HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Chief Executive (House of Commons Service)

Simon Burns: To ask the honourable Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission what qualifications the Chief Executive of the House of Commons Service has to fulfil his duties as Chief Executive.

Archy Kirkwood: The Chief Executive of the House of Commons Service holds that post by virtue of his appointment as Clerk of the House of Commons. This arrangement was endorsed by the external reviews of the management of the House of Commons carried out in 1990 by Sir Robin Ibbs and in 1999 by Mr. Michael Braithwaite. I refer the hon. Member in particular to paragraphs 15.38 to 15.42 and Annex G of the Braithwaite Report (HC 745, 1998–99), which set out the rationale for that arrangement.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Arable Area Payment Scheme

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when Arable Area Payment Scheme payments are expected to be made.

Alun Michael: The payment window for the Arable Area Payment Scheme 2004 main payments opened on 16 November 2004 and closes on 31 January 2005. Payments commenced immediately the payment window opened and during the first two weeks 69 per cent. of claims were paid including 80 per cent. of claims from producers in those countries most affected by wet weather.

Bees

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the future of the bee health programme.

Alun Michael: The Department's Activity Baseline Review has identified the bee health programme as an area where 20 per cent. savings (equivalent to £250,000 p.a.) could be realised from 2008. We expect to make these savings through a reduced programme of expenditure with the Central Science Laboratory's National Bee Unit, which implements the programme in England.
	We have discussed these proposals with beekeeping organisations, who have registered a number of concerns. We will take these concerns into account in developing and implementing the proposals.

Bees

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures her Department is taking to support beekeepers in the UK; and if she will make a statement.

Alun Michael: The Department assists the beekeeping sector in England through an integrated bee health programme administered by the National Bee Unit. The programme will cost £1.235 million in 2004–05. Measures include the provision of a free diagnostic and inspection service as well as training and technical advice to help beekeepers become more self-reliant in controlling pests and diseases through improved bee husbandry techniques.
	This year, the Department also intends to spend some £240,000 on research and development to underpin our bee health policy in controlling endemic notifiable diseases in the UK and preventing the introduction of serious exotic pests.

Drinking Water

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many (a) prosecutions, (b) cautions and (c) enforcement notices there have been in each year since 1995 brought by the Drinking Water Inspectorate (i) in total and (ii) broken down by region.

Elliot Morley: Since 1995 the Drinking Water Inspectorate has initiated proceedings for 35 prosecutions and issued 20 Cautions. The Inspectorate has also issued 8 Enforcement Notices under section 20 of the Water Industry Act 1991. The number of prosecutions, cautions and notices are summarised as follows, by year and by region.
	
		Number of prosecutions
		
			  Total number of prosecutions Prosecutions by Region Number 
		
		
			 1995 2 Wales 1 
			 — — West Midlands 1 
			 
			 1996 1 London — 
			 
			 1997 4 Wales 2 
			 — — West Midlands 1 
			 — — South West 1 
			 
			 1998 9 Yorkshire and Humberside 1 
			 — — Wales 3 
			   North East 1 
			 — — South East 2 
			 — — West Midlands 1 
			 — — North West 1 
			 
			 1999 9 East of England 2 
			 — — South West 2 
			 — — East Midlands 1 
			 — — South East 2 
			 — — North West 2 
			 
			 2000 5 South East 1 
			 — — Wales 3 
			 — — East of England 1 
			 
			 2001 3 South East 1 
			 — — Wales 1 
			 — — East of England 1 
			 
			 2002 1 Yorkshire and Humberside — 
			 
			 2003 0 — — 
			 
			 2004 (To date) 1 East of England — 
		
	
	
		Number of cautions
		
			  Total number of cautions Cautions by Region Number 
		
		
			 1995 1 Wales — 
			 
			 1996 0 — — 
			 
			 1997 0 — — 
			 
			 1998 2 Yorkshire and Humberside 1 
			 — — South West 1 
			 
			 1999 0 — — 
			 
			 2000 8 South East 2 
			 — — North West 4 
			 — — North East 1 
			 — — South West 1 
			 
			 2001 3 Yorkshire 2 
			 
			 2002 2 Yorkshire and Humberside — 
			 
			 2003 3 Yorkshire and Humberside 2 
			 — — Wales 1 
			 2004 (To date) 1 South East — 
		
	
	
		Notices of intention to serve an Enforcement Order under s20 Water Industry Act 1991
		
			  Total number of Notices served Notices served by Region Number 
		
		
			 1995 0 — — 
			 
			 1996 6 East of England 1 
			 — — West Midlands 1 
			   North East 1 
			   East/West Midlands 1 
			   South East 2 
			 
			 1997 2 Yorkshire and Humberside 1 
			 — — South East 1 
			 
			 1998 0 — — 
			 
			 1999 0 — — 
			 
			 2000 0 — — 
			 
			 2001 0 — — 
			 
			 2002 0 — — 
			 
			 2003 0 — — 
			 
			 2004 (To date) 0 — —

Emissions

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what further action she plans to reduce emissions of methane.

Elliot Morley: There has been a 42.7 per cent. reduction in methane emissions in the UK between 1990 and 2002, the most recent year for which data is available.
	Methane is one of the greenhouse gases covered by the Kyoto Protocol. Following the decision of Russian to sign up to the Kyoto Protocol it is due to come into force on 16 February 2005. The UK remains on course to achieve its Kyoto target to reduce emissions of all greenhouse gases by 12.5 per cent. below 1990 levels by 2008–12. Provisional estimates suggest that in 2003 greenhouse gas emissions were about 14 per cent. below the baseline.
	A review of the Climate Change Programme was launched on 15 September. The review will evaluate the success of the existing policy measures in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and will examine the scope for further reductions in the future.

Emissions

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the volumes of methane likely to be released following the effects of climate change in polar regions; and what assessment she has made of the effect that the release of such methane will have on climate change.

Elliot Morley: There are currently large uncertainties in the estimates of present-day natural methane fluxes. There are also large uncertainties in the projections of changes in these fluxes under climate change, due both to the responses of methane emissions to warming and the changes in wetland area under climate change.
	However, modelling studies performed by the Hadley Centre for the UK Climate Prediction programme funded by Defra indication that methane emissions from wetlands north of 45°N will approximately double by 2100 relative to the present day, from 50 to 95 Terragrams per year. It is estimated that this will contribute an additional 1 per cent. to global warming over the 21st Century.
	It should be noted that this does not consider the potential release of methane from ocean hydrates, which has not yet been quantified, but is the subject of research within the Climate Prediction Programme.

Environment Agency Projects

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she expects that the feasibility/design stage of the Environment Agency project concerning (a) the possible raising of ground levels at the western end of Gossmore Close in Marlow and (b) the construction of flap valve/headwall of the existing highway ditch adjacent to Firview Close in Marlow will be reached; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: I understand that the raising of the ground levels at the western end of Gossmore Close is part of the Firview Close Area Study and has gone through a pre-feasibility study only. It is currently being considered for inclusion on the Environment Agency's Capital Programme.
	The detailed design for the construction of a flap valve/headwall of the existing highway ditch adjacent to Firview Close is unlikely to begin before 2006–07.
	As an interim measure I understand that Wycombe district council and Buckinghamshire county council have agreed that if another flood event occurs (of a magnitude that puts the properties in Firview Close at risk of flooding), they will make arrangements for an emergency headwall to be constructed across the highway ditch with the aim of protecting the properties from river flooding.

Environment Agency Projects

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she expects that the feasibility/design stage of the Environment Agency project concerning the possible erection of an earth bund at the rear of Bream Close/Trout Close in Marlow will be reached; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 30 November 2004
	I understand that the Environment Agency's pre-feasibility study for this area is now complete and has concluded that there is a viable project to reduce the risk of river flooding to the residential properties on the Pound Lane estate.
	The preferred option is for construction of a substantial earth bund, commencing at the rear of Bream Close and extending in a north easterly direction to the rear of Trout Close. Feasibility and design for this proposal is now under way.

Environment Agency Projects

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what action she has taken in relation to the conclusions of the Environment Agency feasibility study on the prevention of flooding in Medmenham; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 30 November 2004
	Environment Agency (EA) flood risk improvement projects must meet specified economic, technical and environmental criteria and achieve the threshold priority score for the year in which they start in order to be eligible for funding from Defra's ring-fenced improvement allocation which is shared between all operating authorities.
	I have not seen a copy of this feasibility study. However, I understand that the EA's preferred option is for a flood bund around the properties in Ferry Lane on both the east and west side of the road including the Abbey. I understand, however, the priority score for the proposal is relatively low and construction is therefore unlikely to progress in the near future. In the meantime the EA is working closely with riparian owners to ensure local watercourses are property maintained.

European Constitution

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the effect of the coming into force of the European Constitution on the operation of her Department, with reference to (a) changes in legislative competence, (b) the extension of qualified majority voting, (c) the increased legislative role of the European Parliament, (d) the cost of implementation of regulations, (e) the requirements of adherence to the Charter of Fundamental Rights and (f) the quantity of legislation originating in the EU institutions.

Elliot Morley: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 29 November 2004, Official Report, column 10W by my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary.

Flood Prevention Schemes

Paddy Tipping: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the cost of flood prevention schemes undertaken since 1997 was, broken down by county.

Elliot Morley: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave him on 17 November 2004, Official Report, column 1482W. I plan to place this information in the Library of the House shortly.

Flood Prevention Schemes

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures the Environment Agency is taking to hold back water in the upper reaches of the Thames.

Elliot Morley: I understand the upstream catchment currently supports significant storage of water within the confines of the natural floodplain.
	The Environment Agency has a statutory duty to maintain water levels of the Thames within a range of +6" to -3" of Standard Head Water Level, marked at the head of each lock. To achieve this, the weir associated with each lock is operated to regulate the amount of flow through it, which will either raise or lower the water level of the reach above the weir. In this way the rate of flow of the river may rise or fall although the level of the river may remain much the same.
	After rain, as river flows increase, weir gates are opened to prevent, or to minimise as far as possible, rises in water level. Water is not deliberately held back. When very high flows are experienced, they may exceed the capacity of the river channel at which point it overtops its banks even though the weir may be fully open.

Flood Prevention Schemes

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps the Environment Agency is taking to dredge the upper reaches of the Thames.

Elliot Morley: I understand proposed dredging works are scheduled to take place at Marlow Lock tail cut in the winter of 2005. This programme of dredging was developed in response to the findings of the Summer/Autumn 2004 River Thames Reach bathymetric surveys.
	In line with the Mechanism of Flooding Report recommendations, the agency is currently reviewing its position on the options and case for additional dredging. This work includes: searching for new disposal sites for the dredging (including reprocessing), reviewing environmental implications and recalculating the potential benefits and costs to assess the economic justification of further dredging. This report will be concluded in spring 2005.

Hazardous Waste Sites

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what criteria were used in determining which sites would be eligible to deal with hazardous waste; and if she will make a statement

Elliot Morley: holding answer 29 November 2004
	With the ending of the co-disposal of hazardous and non-hazardous waste in landfills, operators had to decide on the classification for each of their landfill sites post 16 July 2004. For those sites that choose to be designated as hazardous waste landfills, operators had to apply to the Environment Agency for a permit that contained the operating conditions for the site. The Agency had to then decide whether a permit should be issued and, if so, what operating conditions should be applied.
	The requirements for a hazardous waste landfill are set out in the Landfill (England and Wales) Regulations 2002, as amended by the Landfill (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2004 and related Pollution Prevention and Control Legislation. Those sites designated as hazardous but have yet to complete the permitting process, can continue to accept hazardous waste under the terms of its waste management licence until such time as a decision on the permit application is made. The Environment Agency is unable to issue a permit unless the necessary planning permissions are in place.
	Government Ministers have no role in this process unless an appeal against a decision by the planning authority or the Environment Agency is made. Ministers adjudicate on those appeals.

Home Energy Efficiency/Warm Front Schemes

Keith Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many homes in the Manchester, Withington constituency have benefited from the home energy efficiency and warm front schemes.

Elliot Morley: Information is not available on a constituency basis on the number of homes that benefited from the original Home Energy Efficiency Scheme between 1991 and 1997.
	It is estimated that between June 1997 and May 2000 approximately 2,200 households in Manchester, Withington received assistance from the Home Energy Efficiency Scheme.
	Since the launch of the Warm Front scheme in June 2000 and the end of October 2004 approximately 2,000 households in Manchester, Withington received assistance.

Newspaper Article

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether she approved the article by the Parliamentary Private Secretary, the hon. Member for the Wrekin (Peter Bradley), which appeared in the Sunday Telegraph on 21 November.

Alun Michael: Parliamentary Private Secretaries are not obliged to seek the approval of the Secretary of State for anything they write in a personal capacity.

PFI Projects

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what action has been taken to ensure that other Government Departments deliver sustainability within the private finance initiative projects;
	(2)  what role her Department (a) has and (b) plans to take to make the PFI process more accountable and transparent in terms of environmental sustainability;.
	(3)  what assessment her Department has made of the sustainability and environmental impacts of private finance initiative projects and the effectiveness of the PFI process to deliver environmentally sustainable projects;
	(4)  what role her Department has played in ensuring that private finance initiative projects create the minimum of environmental damage.

Elliot Morley: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 25 May 2004, Official Report, column 149W.
	Since then the sections of the "Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate" on waste, estates management and construction, and on procurement have been published; these sections commit all Government Departments to include clauses relating to sustainable development issues in relevant contracts, including PFIs and PPs.
	The Government is committed to ensuring that sustainable development considerations are taken into account in public procurement (including PFIs/PPPs).

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Age Discrimination

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what his Department's policy is towards age discrimination.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: DFID has in place, an Equal Opportunities Policy that clearly outlines our commitment not to discriminate on the grounds of age.
	We have taken numerous steps to address potential age discrimination including flexibility for staff below the Senior Civil Service (SCS) grade to work on beyond normal retirement age, statistical monitoring of all of our selection processes, and training for all staff on diversity and equal opportunities.
	DFID is a member of the Employers Forum on Age (EFA) and has adopted some of the good practice techniques recommended by the EFA. Using the EFA policy assessment toolkit, we have initiated a review of our current policies and practices in relation to discrimination.

AIDS

David Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what research his Department has carried out into the average life expectancy of someone who has been diagnosed with AIDS in (a) Sub-Saharan Africa, (b) other developing countries and (c) Western Europe; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: DFID, like many in the international system, uses data from a variety of sources, including UNAIDS, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations who are tasked with monitoring and reporting on the AIDS epidemic.
	The latest UN Human Development Report estimates that life expectancy in many sub-Saharan African countries has fallen to under 33 years, primarily due to the AIDS epidemic. WHO report that overall life expectancy has dropped precipitously over the last 10 years—for females from 51.1 to 46.3 and males 47.3 to 44.8 years. WHO report that life expectancy in Africa has been cut by five to 10 years due to the AIDS epidemic, this is reduced even further by 15 to 20 years in Southern Africa. The Global Health Council report that in Thailand, Cambodia and Burma two to five years of life expectancy has been lost due to AIDS. UNAIDS report that life expectancy at birth in 2010 is projected to be 10 years less in Haiti and in Trinidad and Tobago nine years less than it would have been without AIDS.
	Once someone is infected with the HIV virus their possible progression to AIDS or death will be affected by many factors. With access to treatment, not only ART but also basic health care people can live longer, potentially for more than 20 years. However for people with HIV with no access to clean water, or who are malnourished or who have little or no access to basic health services for treatment of opportunistic infections such as TB, life expectancy can drop substantially.

Angola

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assistance the Government have offered to the Government of Angola in order to facilitate national elections by 2006.

Hilary Benn: DFID's Country Engagement Plan (CEP) for Angola, identifies the priorities for UK development assistance from 2003 to 2006. This includes support to the government and other stakeholders to prepare for the next general election which is expected to take place in September 2006.
	Following discussions with the Angolan Government and civil society, DFID is looking at the possibility of funding a programme consisting of voter and civic education, election-related conflict management and election monitoring. Through the Electoral Institute of Southern Africa, DFID has also been co-financing Angolan parliamentarians and civil society representatives to participate as observers in the elections of other Southern African Development Community (SADC) member states. This list includes: Malawi, South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and currently Mozambique.
	In addition, the European Union made a declaration in August, in which it stated that it stands ready to contribute to the establishment of a proper and conducive environment for free and fair elections.

Climate Change

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment his Department has made of the impact of climate change on the developing world.

Hilary Benn: DFID uses the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports and other multilateral assessments of climate change and potential impacts. However, it is clear that currently available information is inadequate. DFID has jointly commissioned, with DEFRA, a study on African climate research needs which is due to report this December. Climate change is a major theme of DFID's Research Strategy and we have commissioned a needs assessment to inform a call for new research proposals next spring.
	DFID is also taking steps to help developing countries manage the risks of climate change and develop effective adaptation strategies. We have produced guidance for our country programmes and climate is included in our environmental screening procedures for all bilateral programmes.
	DFID is working to integrate climate change risk management into the development and environmental safeguard policies of the main multilateral development institutions, starting with joint work on risk management with the World Bank in 2005.
	Helping developing countries to meet their growth and energy needs through the adoption of more energy efficient technologies will also be crucial to tackling climate change. DFID is exploring ways to increase support for low carbon development with international development banks, including the World Bank.

Departmental Costs

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the cost has been of criminal damage to his Department's buildings in each of the last two years.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: The only costs incurred as a result of criminal damage to the Department's buildings in the UK in the last two years is £345, in 2003–04.
	Information on costs incurred by overseas offices is not readily available and cannot be obtained without incurring a disproportionate cost.

Departmental Costs

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what his estimate is of the cost of building refurbishment carried out by his Department in each of the last two years.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: The costs of building refurbishment, carried out by DFID in the UK in the last two years are in relation to the work on our office in East Kilbride. The costs are as follows:
	
		
			  £ 
		
		
			 2002–03 5,223,000 
			 2003–04 8,706,000 
		
	
	Costs associated with refurbishment of any overseas offices are not centrally available and cannot be provided without incurring a disproportionate cost.

Departmental Costs

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what the total external spend by his Department was on Private Finance Initiative consultants in each of the last two years; how many full-time equivalent consultants were employed over this period; how many billed consultancy days there were per year; what the implied average cost of each PFI consultant was; how many consultancy firms were used by his Department over this period; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: DFID has no Private Finance Initiative arrangements.

Departmental Costs

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what the total external spend by his Department was on public private partnership consultants in each of the last two years; how many full-time equivalent consultants were employed over this period; how many billed consultancy days there were per year; what the implied average cost of each PPP consultant was; how many consultancy firms were used by his Department over this period; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: DFID has no public private partnership arrangements.

Departmental Mobile Phones

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many departmental mobile telephones were used by Ministers, special advisers and officials in his Department in each year since 1997; at what cost; how many such telephones were lost or stolen in each year since 1997; and what the replacement costs were in each case.

Hilary Benn: Mobile phones were not managed under a central contract prior to 2003–04, and therefore information for earlier years (and information on mobile phones in overseas offices) is not readily available and could not be provided without incurring a disproportionate cost. Similarly, the costs incurred through the replacement of the individual phones stolen are not readily available and so also could not be provided without incurring a disproportionate cost.
	Over the last two years, the number of mobile phones in use in the UK, and their costs (including equipment, call charges and access charges) as follows:
	
		
			  Number of mobile phones £ 
		
		
			 2003–04 230 89,500 
			 2004–05 (to date) 434 92,800 
			
		
	
	These figures include the two mobile phones for Ministers and two for the special advisers.
	The total number of mobile phones lost or stolen since 2001 is 28, broken down as follows:
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 2001 5 
			 2002 6 
			 2003 13 
			 2004 6 
		
	
	No information is available on phones lost prior to this period.

Departmental Properties

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what his estimate is of the (a) annual cost and (b) total value of the empty properties owned by (i) his Department, (ii) his agencies and (iii) other public bodies for which he has had responsibility in each of the last two years.

Hilary Benn: There are no empty properties owned by DFID.
	There are no other agencies or public bodies for which DFID is responsible.

Fair Trade

David Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what estimate he has made of the percentage of British supermarket stock which is fairly traded; and what research his Department has carried out into fair trade products in the British market.

Hilary Benn: Over the past 10 years, the growth in sales of Fairtrade labelled goods in the UK has been rapid. There are now over 300 Fairtrade products which include coffee, tea, cocoa, chocolate, snacks and biscuits, sugar, honey, fruit juice and fresh fruit.
	Sales of Fairtrade labelled products are expected to exceed £100 million for 2004 (out of an estimated £120 billion supermarket sales) and are increasing by 50 per cent. year on year. Fairtrade labelled products now account for 18 per cent. of the UK roast and ground coffee market, and over 3 per cent. of overall coffee sales. Fairtrade accounts for around 4 per cent. of the total UK banana market.
	DFID has commissioned a number of research studies on Fair Trade, including a study on Understanding and Expanding Fair Trade, which focused on developing alternative coffee and cocoa markets for small sale farmers. In 2000, an overview and impact assessment study was commissioned to inform DFID's support to Fair Trade.
	DFID supports the objectives of the Fairtrade Foundation and provides £300,000 to fund a number of activities, including annual Fairtrade Fortnight and public awareness raising campaigns.

Falluja

Glenda Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  what action the UK is taking to ensure emergency water and electricity supplies are provided to the citizens of Falluja;
	(2)  what assistance is being provided by the United Kingdom to restore essential utilities infrastructure to Falluja;
	(3)  what resources the UK plans to provide to assist in the re-building of Falluja;
	(4)  what emergency (a) medical supplies, (b) personnel and (c) equipment will be provided by the United Kingdom to assist those injured by coalition force attacks upon Falluja.

Hilary Benn: The Interim Iraqi Government (IIG) is leading on humanitarian and reconstruction work in Falluja and has established a central team to co-ordinate its assistance to the people of Falluja. This assistance includes: supplying food, water and medical supplies, restoring essential services, and refurbishing medical facilities. The UK is in close contact with the IIG, and DFID is providing advice to its Falluja co-ordination team.
	The IIG and the Multi-National Force operating in Fallujah have reported that there is no humanitarian crisis so far and humanitarian visits to Falluja by British military officials confirm this assessment. Multi-National Forces have reported that their stockpiles of humanitarian supplies have provided for the immediate needs of Falluja's civilians. Iraqi Government and Iraqi Red Crescent trucks containing humanitarian supplies are now entering the city and the distribution of food, water, and medical supplies has begun. Injured civilians are being treated in mobile hospitals in Falluja, or have been taken for treatment at hospitals in nearby towns.
	The Interim Iraqi Government (IIG) has also set aside significant funds from the Iraqi government budget for reconstruction work. The IIG is being supported by the Multi-National Force, which also has considerable resources for immediate post-conflict reconstruction work in Falluja, including clearing rubble and the restoration of water, sewerage and electricity services. United States agencies have planned around 100 reconstruction projects in the Falluja area totalling $84.1 million. These are due to begin soon and should complete by the end of January.
	DFID is maintaining close contact with the IIG, with representatives of Multi-National Force-Iraq, and with humanitarian organisations on the ground, to address the needs of Falluja's population. DFID is ready to respond positively to requests for humanitarian help or further advice in Falluja or elsewhere.

Government Procurement (Developing Countries)

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions he has had on including criteria on international labour standards in Government procurement procedures as a way of improving working conditions in developing countries.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: DFID is actively involved in discussions on the inclusion of social issues in public procurement processes. At the request of the inter-departmental Sustainable Procurement Group, the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) is preparing a guidance note on social issues in purchasing. DFID has provided detailed comments on the OGC's initial draft including comments on the inclusion of labour standards issues.

Iraq

David Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if he will make aid available for charities to assist children orphaned by the war in Iraq who are in foster homes.

Hilary Benn: UNICEF, along with five other NGOs, undertook a study of the needs of Iraqi children made vulnerable by war and its aftermath during the summer of 2003. This study informed decisions on UNICEF project priorities (see below). UNICEF is also continuing its pre-war efforts of assisting children in particular vulnerable situations, such as children living and working on the street, orphaned or disabled children, and children in conflict with the law.
	DFID support to the children of Iraq is currently channelled through two main mechanisms. The first is a Civil Service Fund (CSF—£5 million over two years), which is focused on strengthening the capacity of Iraqi civil society organisations (CSO) to better address the needs of the poor and vulnerable groups, especially women and young people. The second is the multi-donor trust fund managed by the United Nations, part of which supports the activities carried out by UNICEF to help vulnerable groups. DFID has made an initial contribution of £30 million to the trust fund.
	Further information on DFID's Iraq programme can be found at http://www.dfid.gov.uk/countries/asia/iraq.asp

Iraq

David Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what aid he has made available to offer psychological care to people affected by the war in Iraq.

Hilary Benn: DFID's support for the health sector in Iraq, including psychosocial support, is being channelled through the multi-donor trust fund managed by the United Nations. UN work in this area will focus on the provision of technical assistance for the development of mental health and psychosocial support services at the primary level. DFID has made an initial contribution of £30 million to the UN managed trust fund.

Iraq

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much money has been allocated by his Department for the provision of humanitarian aid to Iraq in each of the last two years.

Hilary Benn: Since the beginning of 2003, DFID has committed £333 million towards humanitarian and reconstruction work in Iraq. During 2003, over £132 million was allocated for humanitarian assistance, including contributions to United Nations agencies, the Red Cross and non-governmental organisations. So far, in 2004, DFID has allocated £201 million towards reconstruction and the restoration of essential services.

Iraq

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what projects his Department is supporting in Iraq.

Hilary Benn: Since March 2003, DFID has committed £333 million for humanitarian and reconstruction projects in Iraq, and disbursed approximately £251 million. This sum includes over £100 million disbursed through United Nations agencies, the Red Cross and non-governmental organisations in response to humanitarian appeals in 2003.
	Current projects in Iraq supported by DFID are listed as follows.
	Reconstruction in southern Iraq:
	£20 million to an Emergency Infrastructure Programme, which is improving the supply of water, power and fuel to over five million people in the south.
	£20.5 million capacity building programme in the four southern Governorates, aimed at supporting strategic planning and financial management in both the public and private sectors.
	£16.5 million programme to generate employment and address weaknesses in essential services in the four southern Governorates.
	Technical assistance to help co-ordinate reconstruction in the south, and ensure completion of former Coalition Provisional Authority projects. (£5.5 million).
	Re-establishing radio and television broadcasting capacity in the south, through training programmes and supply of equipment. (£7 million).
	Support to government, justice, media and civil society:
	Technical support and training (£4 million) within Iraq's system of public administration; focused on the centre of government (Prime Minister's Office, Council of Ministers' Secretariat, and Presidency) and in key ministries for reconstruction.
	Support to the justice sector (£2 million): training programmes in international human rights law to Iraqi judges, lawyers and prosecutors.
	£4.3 million macro-economic reform project to support the Iraqi Government in developing and implementing pro-poor economic reform programmes.
	£5 million Political Participation Fund; supporting the development of legitimate and inclusive political institutions in Iraq, and to enable potentially marginalized groups to participate in the political process.
	£5 million Civil Society Fund: strengthening the capacity of Iraqi civil society organisations to better address the needs of the most vulnerable groups.
	£1 million media project: training journalists, editors and media managers on humanitarian and independent reporting.
	Multilateral contributions:
	£70 million contribution to the International Reconstruction Fund Facility for Iraq (IRFFI), managed by the UN and the World Bank. Seventeen donors have committed around $1 billion to IRFFI. The UN and World Bank are implementing projects in a wide range of sectors including health, education, water and sanitation, electricity supply, support to refugees and internally displaced people, governance, and the electoral process.
	Over £3 million to the IMF, to project support to the Interim Iraqi Government in economic governance and financial management.
	Contribution of £8.5 million to the International Finance Corporation for a Small Business Fund Facility, designed to improve access to finance for small Iraqi businesses.

Iraq

David Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what expenditure has been allocated to treat victims of burns caused by the war in Iraq.

Hilary Benn: DFID's support for the health sector in Iraq is being channelled through the multi-door trust fund managed by the United Nations. DFID has contributed £30 million to the fund so far focusing on a range of development sectors including health. DFID has no plans to provide bilaterial support for the treatment of burns.

Multinationals

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions he has had with multinational companies on (a) their responsibilities for the environment and (b) employment of local people in developing countries; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: I talk to multinational corporations about a range of issues, including environment and employment.
	DFID works in partnership with governments, the private sector, international financial institutions, non-government organisations and trade unions to encourage good corporate and public sector governance. DFID aims to help improve the business and investment climate so as to maximise the positive impact in developing countries.
	If for example, DFID works closely with, among other partners, oil, gas and mining multinationals on the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. This is increasing the transparency of revenues paid to governments by extractive industry companies and the receipts recorded by host governments. Transparency is not, however, an end in itself but will increase the accountability of those governments to use these revenues for sustainable development and poverty reduction goals.
	DFID promotes adherence to the "Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises (published by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development in 2000). The guidelines encourage multinationals to raise their environmental and social performance and call on them to:
	(1) Commit to the continual improvement of environmental management performance, developing environmental management systems and ensuring better contingency planning to manage negative impacts.
	(2) Ensure "to the greatest extent practicable" employment of local personnel and the provision of training to improve local skills and capacity in developing countries in which they operate.
	The Guidelines do not replace local laws but promote standards of behaviour supplemental to local laws.
	In addition, DFID continues to support specific labour and employment programmes within developing countries.
	Through a Strategic Grant Agreement with the Trades Union Congress DFID is helping UK trade unions to support workers in developing countries. This may include ensuring preference being given to local people when multinationals operate in developing countries.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Artists Resale Right Directive

David Heathcoat-Amory: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, what plans she has to implement the Artists' Resale Right Directive in the UK.

Patricia Hewitt: The Government plans to introduce Artists' Release Right on 1 January 2006, which is the deadline in the Directive harmonising the right. The Government intends to issue a formal consultation document on the implementation of the Directive shortly, accompanied by a draft statutory instrument. The consultation documents will be mounted on the Patent Office's website.

ATM Machines

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what research she has commissioned on the cost to the general public of the introduction of transaction charges at ATM machines.

Stephen Timms: I have been asked to reply.
	The Government welcomes the recent increase in the number of ATMs as it has increased choice for consumers. Also, nearly all ATMs run by high street banks and building societies are now free. Only a few years ago this was not the case. The Government believes charging policy is a commercial matter for ATM operators.

ATM Machines

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions she has had with the major clearing banks in (a) Scotland, (b) England and (c) the rest of the UK on the effects on users of the sale of ATM machines to companies which charge transaction fees for their use.

Stephen Timms: I have been asked to reply.
	The Government have not held discussions with banks on the sale of ATMs to independent operators. The Government believe this is a commercial matter for individual banks.

Business Support

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many loans have been guaranteed through the Small Firms Loan Guarantee Scheme since 1995, broken down by (a) region and (b) sector; and what the value of grants was in each case in each year.

Nigel Griffiths: The Small Firms Loan Guarantee is not a grant scheme, but acts as guarantor.
	I have placed in the Libraries of the House copies of tables that show the number of Small Firms Loan Guarantees issued since 1995 by region and sector.

Business Support

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what financial provision her Department has made for funding (a) grants for research and development and (b) collaborative research and development business support products.

Nigel Griffiths: I refer to the answer given on 16 November 2004, Official Report, columns 1299–1300W.

Business Support Initiatives

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many businesses have been assisted by (a) the UK High Technology Fund and (b) Regional Venture Capital Funds in each (i) region and (ii) constituency since 2000.

Nigel Griffiths: As at 31 October 2004 the Regional Venture Capital Funds (RVCFs) had assisted 140 businesses. This number can be broken down regionally as follows.
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 East Midlands 21 
			 East of England 4 
			 London 16 
			 North East 23 
			 North West 19 
			 South East 26 
			 South West 6 
			 West Midlands 18 
			 Yorkshire and Humber 7 
		
	
	A breakdown of constituencies that have one or more assisted businesses, for the most recent period available up until 31 December 2003, follows:
	Analysis by constituency of businesses assisted by RVCFs in the period up to 31 December 2003:
	East Midlands
	Blaby
	Bosworth
	Daventry
	Gedling
	Lincoln
	Loughborough
	3x North West Leicestershire
	Northampton North
	Nottingham East
	Nottingham South
	South Derbyshire
	South East Cambridgeshire
	South West
	Bath
	North Cornwall
	Somerton and Frome
	South West Devon
	North West
	Altrincham and Sale West
	Bolton West
	Ellesmere Port and Neston
	4x Manchester Central
	St. Helens South
	West Lancashire
	London
	Battersea
	Bethnal Green and Bow
	2x Enfield North
	Feltham and Heston
	Islington South and Finsbury
	Kensington and Chelsea
	2x Regents Park and Kensington North
	Ruislip Northwood
	West Midlands
	Birmingham Ladywood
	3x Coventry South
	Newcastle under Lyme
	2x Warwick and Leamington
	West Worcestershire
	Worcester
	South East
	Ashford
	Basingstoke
	2x Beaconsfield
	Brighton Pavilion
	Christchurch
	Costwold
	Faversham and Mid Kent
	Guildford
	Harrow East
	Mid Sussex
	Milton Keynes North East
	Milton Keynes South West
	Oxford East
	South West Surrey
	Southampton Itchen
	Tonbridge and Malling
	2x Tunbridge Wells
	Wealden
	Winchester
	North East
	Blyth Valley
	Houghton and Washington
	East Jarrow
	2x Newcastle upon Tyne Central
	Stockton North
	6x Tyne Bridge
	Tynemouth
	Yorkshire and Humber
	Calder Valley
	2x City of York
	Harrogate and Knaresborough
	Hull East
	Note:
	1x assisted business per constituency listed unless otherwise stated.
	As at 30 June 2004 the UK High Technology Fund had invested in nine private equity partnerships, which in turn have assisted a total of 173 businesses. The information necessary to determine both a regional and constituency breakdown of assisted businesses is not made available to us by the UK High Technology Fund.

Business Support Initiatives

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much public funding has been spent on Business Link in each (a) region and (b) constituency in (i) 2003–04 and (ii) 2004–05.

Nigel Griffiths: The total amount of public funding broken down by region is shown in the following table. It is not possible to provide a breakdown by constituency.
	
		Business link operators breakdown of all public funding by region
		
			   £000 
			 Region 2003–04 2004–05 
		
		
			 North East 29,727 42,588 
			 North West 52,295 58,756 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 45,964 62,704 
			 West Midlands 56,081 58,009 
			 East Midlands 22,834 23,228 
			 East of England 31,846 38,401 
			 South West 33,392 39,155 
			 South East 39,765 42,484 
			 London 37,765 41,339

Endeavour Resources

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, if she will launch an investigation into Endeavour Resources's trading links with Darfur, Sudan.

Nigel Griffiths: holding answer 30 November 2004
	Sudan is subject to a full EU arms embargo. Under the Trade in Controlled Goods (Embargoed Destinations) Order 2004, implemented under the Export Control Act 2002 on 3 March 2004, it is a criminal offence for anyone in the UK or any UK person anywhere in the world, to seek to trade, without a valid licence, in military equipment to destinations under a full arms embargo imposed by the EU, OSCE or UK (additional extraterritorial controls on trade to destinations subject to UN embargo are in place under the UN Act 1946). The UK Government would only issue a licence for the supply of or trade in military equipment to Sudan in line with the exemptions to the embargo, for example for humanitarian end-use.
	Investigations into breaches of UK export control legislation are the responsibility of HM Customs and Excise. Should anyone hold evidence of, or information to, any breach of UK export control legislation, this should be referred to HMCE. For legal reasons, we are unable to comment further on the nature and extent of enquiries relating to the case of Endeavour Resources.

Environmental Contamination

Martin Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment her Department has made of the quantities of cadmium released to the environment from (a) phosphate fertilizer use, (b) iron and steel manufacture, (c) fossil fuel combustion and (d) nickel-cadmium batteries.

Elliot Morley: I have been asked to reply.
	(a) Estimated annual inputs of cadmium to the environment from phosphate fertilizer use have fallen from 7.1 tonnes in 1990, to 4.8 tonnes in 2003. It is likely that levels of contamination were higher 10 years earlier (i.e. 1980), but comparable data are not available for that period.
	(b) and (c) Information on atmospheric emissions of a range of substances is provided by the UK National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory (UKNAEI). Annual emissions of cadmium from iron and steel manufacture fell from less than five tonnes in 1970 to less than one tonne in 2002. Cadmium emissions from fuel combustion were 15.5 tonnes in 1970, falling to 3.5 tonnes in 2002.
	(d) The recent targeted risk assessment commissioned by the Belgian Government under the existing substances regulation concluded that 75 per cent. of all refined cadmium (cadmium is a by product of zinc refining) goes into nickel cadmium batteries (NiCd). However, this accounts for only 1 per cent. of all cadmium released into the environment. NiCd batteries account for 0.0055 per cent. of municipal solid waste in the European Union.

ICSTIS

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations she has received about the operation of the Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards of Telephone Information Services (ICSTIS) complaint line.

Mike O'Brien: The Department has received approximately 80 complaints about Premium Rate Services (PRS) in the past year which have mentioned the operation of the ICSTIS helpline. No complaints about ICSTIS were received in the previous two years. Ofcom's current review of PRS regulation will include an assessment of whether ICSTIS has the right tools and resources to regulate the PRS industry.

ICSTIS

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will carry out an inquiry into the operation of the regulation of the premium rate telephone industry.

Mike O'Brien: holding answer 2 December 2004
	The Department has asked the communications regulator, the Office of Communications (Ofcom), to review the role and powers of ICSTIS in premium rate regulation. Ofcom is due to report back shortly

Invoice Payments

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, what the average length of time was between the date of invoices issued to her Department from a supplier and payment by the Department of the invoice in the last 12 months for which figures are available; what percentage of these invoices were paid within 30 days of the date of issue of the invoice; what percentage of these invoices remained unpaid after 90 days; and if she will make a statement on the Department's policy on the payment of invoices issued to it.

Patricia Hewitt: During the period a April 2003 to 31 March 2004 the core Department paid supplier invoices, on average, within 27 days (unaudited figure). During this period, the core Department paid 89.6 per cent. of undisputed invoices within 30 days or the agreed credit terms. Data on invoices remaining unpaid after 90 days is available only at disproportionate cost.
	The Government is committed to improving the payment culture in the UK in order to create a fair and stable environment for business transactions. Government departments and their agencies should aim to pay all invoices not in dispute within 39 days or within the agreed contractual terms if otherwise specified. The Department supports this policy.

Pay Bargaining Units

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, how many times the appraisal system for each pay bargaining unit in her Department has been changed in the last five years; and how many staff are fully or partly employed in connection with pay negotiations in each pay bargaining unit, broken down by grade.

Patricia Hewitt: The table shows the staff time by grade spent in pay negotiations for DTI HQ, and aggregated totals for DTI agencies and non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs).
	
		
			 Bargaining units Time spent on negotiations annually, person days/grade 
			  SCS Grade 5 Senior Managers Middle Managers Total 
		
		
			 DTI HQ 2.5 7.5 2.5 12.5 
			 Agencies 9 46 26 81 
			 NDPBs 9 76.5 28 113.5 
		
	
	The DTI Agencies are: Companies House, Employment Tribunal Service, Patent Office and Insolvency Service.
	The NDPBs include: ACAS, the Equal Opportunities Commission, four regional development agencies and five research councils.
	In the last five years, the appraisal arrangements DTI HQ have been changed once. In DTI Agencies and NDPBSs, listed above, the appraisal arrangements have been changed once on average, with two organisations changing them no more than three times and another two not changing them in that time.

Regional Development Agencies

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the change in her Department's contribution to the regional development agencies in 2005–06.

Jacqui Smith: The Department's contribution to the RDAs in 2005–06 was reviewed as part of Spending Review 2004. The Department's contribution to the RDA budget will increase by £229 million in 2005–06, from £234 million to £463 million. Of that, £169 million has been added to the RDA budget to allow the planned transfer of responsibilities for delivery of the Business Link services in their regions and Grant for Research and Development to the RDAs from April 2005.

Regional Development Agencies

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, what the total Government funding for each of the regional development agencies is for 2004, broken down by contributing Government departments.

Jacqui Smith: The total Government funding for each of the Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) for 2004 is £1.847 million.
	Five Departments contribute to a single budget which is allocated to RDAs using a funding formula. The funding formula is agreed between DTI and other contributing Departments The breakdown by each contributing Department to the single budget is:
	
		
			 Contributing Government Departments (£million) 
		
		
			 DTI 234 
			 ODPM 1,511 
			 DEFRA 46 
			 DFES 42 
			 UKTI 13 
			 DCMS 2 
			 Totals(1) 1,847 
		
	
	(1) Total does not sum due to rounding
	
		
			 Regional Development Agency (£million) 
		
		
			 Advantage West Midlands 225 
			 East of England Development Agency 88 
			 East Midlands Development Agency 118 
			 London Development Agency 315 
			 North West Development Agency 329 
			 One North East 213 
			 South East of England Development Agency 107 
			 South West of England Development Agency 103 
			 Yorkshire Forward 253 
			 Central Reserves 96 
			 Totals 1,847

Regional Development Agencies

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the criteria are for measuring (a) jobs created and (b) jobs safeguarded in assessing regional development agencies' performance.

Jacqui Smith: The total number of employment opportunities directly attributable to Regional Development Agency (RDA) activity(taking new and safeguarded jobs together(is one of the core output targets that England's RDAs are required to deliver in 2004–05.
	As outlined in a Technical Note, the unit of account is a permanent full-time equivalent paid job (FTE). A job is created and is counted, when a post is filled. To be treated as permanent, the job should have a life expectancy of at least one year at the time of the forecast and at the time it is counted. Part-time jobs can be converted to FTE jobs on a pro rata basis with a job over 30 hours treated as full-time or, if the information is not available, two part-time jobs can equal a full-time job.
	A job can only be forecast to be safeguarded if it exists at the time of the decision to commit to the project and is forecast by the RDA to be lost to the region within (normally) one year if the project does not go ahead. A job can be counted as safeguarded if it was forecast as at risk at the appraisal stage, is still in existence at the time of counting, and is no longer at risk of being lost within (normally) a year.
	To arrive at the reported total, adjustments for multiple funding and additionality are made the RDAs. In addition, Foreign Direct Investment and Regional Selective Assistance/Selective Finance for Investment in England jobs are included in the reported figure only after the jobs have been delivered and can be counted in the relevant period.

Research and Development

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what contribution will have to be made by the private sector and charitable funding in order to achieve the public and private spending on research and development targets set out in the Spending Review 2004; and what contribution has been secured from (a) the private sector and (b) charitable funding.

Patricia Hewitt: The Science and Innovation Investment Framework: 2004–2014 outlines the Government's ambition to increase the overall levels of R and D in the economy to 2.5 per cent. of GDP by 2014. This is a challenging target, and public and private expenditure on R and D will have to rise faster than the trend rate of GDP growth over the period if it is to be achieved. The Government has made extra resources available in SR 2004 in line with this objective, including an extra £1 billion for the UK science base by 2007–08, equivalent to a real-term increase of 5.8 per cent. This public investment will have to be matched by a similar commitment from business.
	The Government is committed to working in partnership with business to raise the UK's investment levels in R and D, and has put in place a number of measures to encourage greater private sector investment in R and D, including the R and D tax credits and funding for collaborative research and knowledge transfer via the DTI's Technology Strategy.
	Charity funding for R and D has grown steadily in recent years, and the Government is working in partnership with charities to improve the financial sustainability of university research. In SR 2004, the Government announced additional funding of up to £90 million by 2007–08 to help close the gap between the costs of charity-sponsored research and the funds currently available from universities and charities.

Research and Development

Hilton Dawson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what measures are being taken (a) to prevent the best young scientists from leaving (i) research and (ii) the UK and (b) to attract young scientific talent from abroad.

Patricia Hewitt: holding answer 29 November 2004
	The evidence base for a brain gain/drain is uncertain, with some recent studies showing the UK as a net beneficiary of science, engineering and technology (SET) skills. Therefore, the Office of Science and Technology is taking forward a study to provide a clear and usable definition of the brain drain to ascertain whether the UK SET base is currently experiencing a net brain drain of SET personnel qualified to at least PhD level and to provide an analysis as to what the future balance of inward versus outward migration of SET personnel might be.
	A number of schemes have been implemented in the UK which aim to attract scientific talent from abroad. For example, the Research Councils operate the Dorothy Hodgkin Postgraduate Awards scheme that provides PhD scholarship for students from India, China, Hong Kong and the developing world.
	The Roberts Review (SET for Success, 2002) included recommendations that focused on the supply of scientists and improving the attractiveness of research careers. In its strategy for science, "Investing in Innovation", the Government made a commitment to implement measures based on these recommendations. These included increasing Research Council postdoctoral researchers' salaries by around £4,000 by 2005, increasing the average Research Council PhD stipend to £13,000 by 2005, providing young researchers with two weeks a year of transferable skills training, and establishing a new academic fellowship scheme that will provide more stable and attractive routes into academia. The 2004 Spending Review settlement will provide additional funding to extend the average duration of Research Council PhD awards to three-and-a-half years, and further increase the level of Research Council PhD stipends by at least inflation.
	The work of the UK Resource Centre for Women in SET (science, engineering and technology) includes sharing good employment practices, and supporting women returners. A contribution from the Department for Education and Skills will enable the Resource Centre to develop a scheme dedicated to encouraging more female SET undergraduates to take up SET professions.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Adrenaline

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what guidance is given to (a) schools, (b) other educational facilities and (c) local authority-run centres regarding the administration of adrenaline to children who suffer from severe allergies.

Margaret Hodge: The DfES and Department of Health have jointly produced guidance on "Supporting pupils with medical needs" in schools. This provides information on management and control of anaphylaxis and advises that training in the administration of adrenaline is given by a health professional. Specific guidance on the administration of adrenaline has not been issued to other educational facilities and local authority-run centres. However, all providers have health and safety responsibilities towards pupils and where staff administer adrenaline they must ensure that the staff are properly trained.

Child Care (Wandsworth)

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many new full day care places have been created in the London borough of Wandsworth in each of the past three years.

Margaret Hodge: 918 new full day care places have been created in Wandsworth since 2001. Taking account of turnover, 779 net new places have been created. This has resulted in an increase in the stock of places from 2,741 in March 2001 to 3,520 in March 2004. There are a variety of reasons why provision may close, ranging from childminders taking up other careers once their own children reach school age or changes in family circumstances resulting in career changes, to work-friendly full day care replacing other forms of provision.
	Table 1 details the number of gross and net full day care places created in Wandsworth for each year since 2001. Table 2 shows the number of nursery education places taken up by 3 and 4-year-olds.
	
		Table 1
		
			  Gross childcare places Net childcare places 
		
		
			 2001–02 62 28 
			 2002–03 304 304 
			 2003–04 615 447 
			 Total 918 779 
		
	
	
		Table 2
		
			  Nursery education places taken up 
		
		
			 2002 6,600 
			 2003 6,300 
			 2004 6,200 
		
	
	The number of nursery education places taken up in Wandsworth over the past three years has declined as the population of 3 and 4-year-olds has reduced.

Child Care (Wandsworth)

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps his Department is taking to monitor local authority spending on the promotion of nursery education in the London borough of Wandsworth.

David Miliband: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Departmental Initiatives (Young People)

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  if he will list each programme and initiative launched by his Department to help young people since 1997; and which of those programmes and initiatives remain in operation;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the effects of Government policies relating to young people;
	(3)  if he will make a statement on his Department's efforts since 1997 in helping young people.

Margaret Hodge: holding answer 29 November 2004
	The Department for Education and Skills has launched the following programmes since 1997 to help young people through offers of advice, support and positive activities, all of which remain in operation: Connexions; Get REAL; Millennium Volunteers; Positive Activities for Young People; the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy; and Transforming Youth Work.
	An important aspect of the Government's strategy is to involve local people in running activities for young people in their area. The Local Network Fund is managed locally by voluntary organisations and provides funding and capacity building support to community groups working with vulnerable young people. The Neighbourhood Support Fund supports local voluntary and community sector projects in delivering informal learning and self development for hard to reach young people.
	The Government made an assessment of services for children, young people and families in the Green Paper "Every Child Matters" published in September 2003. It concluded that, while much progress has been made, there was scope for services to work together more effectively to help every child and young person achieve better outcomes. This view was supported in consultation.
	The Government have now legislated through the Children Act 2004 to make changes that will lead to local services working together through children's trust arrangements to improve outcomes for all children and young people. These reforms will span the front line staff providing integrated services, through the processes that support them, to the plans that set their direction and the governance arrangements that sustain them. The Act is the legislative spine for a wider programme of change: we will shortly publish "Every Child Matters: Change for Children" setting out the national framework for local change programmes that will turn the Act into reality.
	The Government remain fully committed to helping all children and young people achieve the best possible outcomes and especially to be healthy, to stay safe, to enjoy and achieve, to make a positive contribution to society, and to achieve economic well-being. That is why we have enshrined these outcomes in the Children Act 2004. A more detailed assessment of programmes and initiatives for young people is being undertaken in the course of developing the Youth Green Paper, which is due to be published in the new year.

Departmental Websites

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether his Department's .gov.uk websites comply with the World Wide Web Consortium's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines adopted by the Government in 2001; and if he will make a statement.

Charles Clarke: The DfES websites do comply with the World Wide Web Consortium's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.
	All sites comply with level 1 of the World Wide Web Consortium's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines while some sites also comply with levels 2 and 3 of the guidelines.
	Specific examples of sites that comply up to level 2 of the guidelines include:
	http://www.need2know.co.uk
	The young person's portal
	http://www.parentcentre.gov.uk
	The Parent Centre is for all parents and carers who want to help their child or children to learn.
	http://www.connexions-direct.com
	Are you 13–19? If so, Connexions Direct can offer you all the information and advice you need to make the decisions and choices in your life. Connexions Direct is part of Connexions. It offers you information on a wide range of topics as well as confidential advice and practical help.
	The www.connexions-direct.com/jobs4U website is currently being developed to meet levels 2 and 3. It will go live in March 2005. Jobs4U is a searchable database which allows young people to find information on possible career paths and the qualifications and skills required to achieve these.
	The DfES is currently reviewing our major sites with a view to bringing them all up to level 2 and 3 of the w3c standards.
	The DfES is also responsible for delivering three sections on Directgov (www.direct.gov.uk) that meet the WAI "A" standard for accessibility and are Working towards "AA" standard for 2005.

Education (Lewisham)

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what changes have been made in the provision of services for children aged under five years in the Lewisham, Deptford constituency since 1997.

Margaret Hodge: Since 1997 we have created five Sure Start local programmes in Lewisham providing services for 3,676 children. Of these, three are based within Deptford: Honor Oak; Grinling Gibbons and Evelyn—providing services for 2,253 children. We have established 17 neighbourhood nurseries in Lewisham, delivering 586 nursery places. Of these, five are in Deptford, delivering 171 nursery places. There are six children's centres planned for Lewisham and each of Deptford's Sure Start local programmes will develop into a children's centre.
	From April 1999—March 2004 Lewisham created 3,732 childcare places. This shows an increase in the stock of childcare places, taking into account turnover of 2,929 places.
	In 1997 4,300 free nursery education places were taken up by three and four year old children. In 2004 5,700 children aged three and four years had taken up free nursery education places.

Education Bodies

David Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps the Government are taking to ensure consistency between advice given to schools by (a) the Specialist Schools Trust, (b) the National College for School Leadership, (c) the Teacher Training Agency and other advice from his Department.

David Miliband: In April 2003 the Government established an Implementation Review Unit. The unit is an independent panel of headteachers and senior school managers whose remit is to cut unnecessary burdens on schools. Its responsibilities include advising the Department and national education agencies about the consistency and timeliness of advice and guidance to schools.

Education Finance

Anne Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what action he is taking to eliminate the funding gap between schools and further education colleges in Cambridge.

David Miliband: The Government have already taken action to narrow the funding gap between school sixth forms and further education colleges. For the academic year 2003/04, base funding rates per qualification increased by 3 per cent. for school sixth forms and by 4.5 per cent. for further education colleges on a broadly comparable basis. In 2004/05, funding rates for colleges meeting their targets increased by 5 per cent., while those for school sixth forms rose by 4 per cent. We expect to see this trend continue in the 2005/06 academic year.

Educational Psychologists

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of future (a) demand for and (b) supply of educational psychologists in local education authorities; and if he will make a statement.

Margaret Hodge: Decisions on the recruitment, retention and deployment of educational psychologists (EPs) are matters for local authorities as employers to determine in light of local circumstances and available resources.
	We are considering the future role and training needs of EPs within the context of wider discussions on children's workforce issues.

Exeter University

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what guidance he will give to Exeter university chemistry students regarding the completion of their degrees in the event of the closure of their Department part-way through their degree course; and what assistance his Department will provide to these students.

Kim Howells: Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are autonomous organisations responsible for their own academic direction and strategic use of funds. It is for Exeter university to decide on how to support students affected by the closure. However, I understand that the university is working closely with the students to ensure that all their individual needs are met. The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) will monitor the situation closely.

Expenditure

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the expenditure per pupil was in the Bassetlaw constituency over each of the last 10 years for (a) nursery education, (b) primary schools, (c) secondary schools and (d) further education.

David Miliband: The information requested for nursery education, primary schools and secondary schools is submitted to the Department according to local education authority areas, rather than districts within an LEA. Bassetlaw forms part of Nottinghamshire LEA. The information requested can be found in the following table:
	
		£
		
			  School based expenditure(5)(5) per pupil(7) 
			  Pre-Primary Education9,10 Primary Education(10) Pre-Primary and Primary Education (10) Secondary Education Combined LEA and school based expenditure(8) per pupil (9) 
		
		
			 Pre LGR Nottinghamshire(3)(3)  
			 1993–94 n/a n/a 1,630 2,370 2,700 
			 1994–95 n/a n/a 1,700 2,400 2,670 
			 1995–96 n/a n/a 1,690 2,360 2,590 
			 1996–97 n/a n/a 1,720 2,360 2,580 
			 1997–98(2)(1) n/a n/a 1,720 2,380 2,570 
			 Nottinghamshire(3)(3) 
			 1998–99 n/a n/a 1,810 2,390 2,650 
			 1999–2000(2)(2) 12,360 2,010 2,030 2,540 2,620 
			 2000–01 10,660 2,220 2,240 2,710 2,800 
			 2001–02 16,270 2,410 2,430 2,970 3,040 
			 2002–035,10 n/a 2,500 n/a 3,030 3,120 
		
	
	(2) 1999–2000 saw a change in data source when the data collection moved from the RO1 form collected by the ODPM to the Section 52 form from the DfES. 2002–03 saw a further break in the time series following the introduction of Consistent Financial Reporting (CFR) and the associated restructuring of the outturn tables. The change in sources is shown by the dotted line.
	(3) Financial data is collected at local authority level and not constituency level and as such figures provided are for Nottinghamshire LEA.
	(4) Local government reorganisation (LGR) took place in Nottinghamshire during 1998 where pre-LGR Nottinghamshire was split into Nottinghamshire LEA and City of Nottingham LEA from 1998–99 onwards.
	(5) School based expenditure includes only expenditure incurred directly by the schools. This includes the pay of teachers and school-based support staff, school premises costs, books and equipment, and certain other supplies and services, less any capital items funded from recurrent spending and income from sales, fees and charges and rents and rates. This excludes the central cost of support services such as home to school transport, local authority administration and the financing of capital expenditure.
	(6) The 2002–03 calculation is broadly similar to the calculation in previous years. However, 2001–02 and earlier years includes all premature retirement compensation (PRC) and Crombie payments, mandatory PRC payments and other indirect employee expenses, while in 2002–03 only the schools element of these categories is included. In 2001–02 this accounted for approximately 70 per pupil of the England total, while the schools element of these categories accounted for approximately 50 per pupil of the England total in 2002–03. Also, for some LEAs, expenditure that had previously been attributed to the school sectors was reported within the LEA part of the form in 2002–03 and would therefore be excluded from school based expenditure, though this is not quantifiable from existing sources.
	(7) To calculate school based expenditure per pupil, the pupil numbers include only those pupils attending maintained establishments within each sector and are drawn from the DfES Annual Schools Census adjusted to be on a financial year basis.
	(8) The combined LEA and school based expenditure includes all expenditure on the education of children in LEA maintained establishments and pupils educated by the LEA other than in maintained establishments. This includes both school based expenditure and all elements of central LEA expenditure except youth and community and capital expenditure from revenue (CERA).
	(9) To calculate combined LEA and school based expenditure per pupil, the pupil figures include all pre-primary pupils, including those under 5s funded by the LEA and being educated in private settings, pupils educated in maintained mainstream schools and other LEA maintained pupils. The pupil data for pupils attending maintained nursery, primary, secondary and special schools are taken from the DfES Annual Schools Census. Private voluntary and independent (PVI) under 5 pupil numbers are taken from the Early Years census but are only included for 1999–2000 onwards. For 1995–96 onwards other LEA maintained pupils are included in the pupil count. This includes all pupils attending schools not maintained by the Authority for whom the Authority is paying full tuition fees, or educated otherwise than in schools and pupil referral units under arrangements made by the Authority drawn from the Form 8b submitted to the DfES. Also included as other LEA maintained pupils are all pupils attending pupil referral units who are not registered at a maintained mainstream school drawn from the DfES Annual Schools Census.
	(10) Expenditure was not distinguished between the pre-primary and primary sectors until the inception of Section 52 for financial year 1999–2000.
	(11) 0 School based expenditure in nursery schools was not recorded in 2002–03.
	(12)(13) Spending in 1997–98 reflects the transfer of monies from local government to central government for the nursery vouchers scheme. These were returned to local government from 1998–99.
	(14)(2) The 1999–2000 figures reflect the return of GM schools to local authority maintenance.
	(15)(3) Figures are rounded to the nearest £10.
	(16)(4) n/a = not available
	(d) The Department does not collect information on the level of funding per pupil in further education at the local or regional level. However, the following table shows funding per full-time equivalent student in further education in England from 1994–95 to 2003–04:
	
		
			  FE total funding per pupil 
		
		
			 1994–95 3,080 
			 1995–96 3,040 
			 1996–97 3,050 
			 1997–98 3,070 
			 1998–99 3,090 
			 1999–2000 3,380 
			 2000–01 3,640 
			 2001–02 4,050 
			 2002–03 (17) 4,120 
			 2003–04 (18) 4,240 
		
	
	(17) Provisional Data
	(18) Planned Expenditure
	Notes:
	1. These are cash figures that show total funding for the further education (FE) sector.
	2. The figures include moneys provided for participation and certain funding for earmarked purposes, including capital, the Standards Fund and other special grants to colleges.
	3. The figures are consistent with those published in the DfES "Departmental Annual Report 2004".

Increased Flexibility Programme

Anne Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether the 14–16 Increased Flexibility Programme will be continued.

David Miliband: An announcement will be made shortly.

Physical Education Teachers

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many qualified physical education teachers were teaching in (a) primary schools and (b) secondary schools in 2004; and what the figures were for 1997.

David Miliband: Primary school teachers are trained to deliver all subjects in the national curriculum including PE.
	Information on the numbers of teachers of PE in secondary schools and their qualifications was collected in November 1996 and 2002.
	The following table gives the number of full-time teachers in maintained secondary schools who taught some PE, year groups seven to 13, and the highest post A level qualification held in the subject for those years.
	
		Physical education
		
			  2002 1996 
		
		
			 Degree (percentage) 25 11 
			 BEd (percentage) 31 34 
			 PGCE (percentage) 6 5 
			 Certificate of education (percentage) 13 23 
			 Other qualification (percentage) 2 (19)— 
			 No qualification (percentage) 22 26 
			 Total teachers (thousand) 21 20 
		
	
	(19) Equals zero or less than 0.5 per cent.
	Notes:
	1. The sum of the percentages may not equal 100 due to rounding.
	2. Teachers may also teach subjects other than PE.
	3. The degree category includes higher degrees but exclude BEds.
	4. Where a teacher has more than one post A level qualification in PE, the qualification level is determined by the highest level reading from left (Degree) to right (Other Qualification). For example, teachers shown under PGCE have a PGCE but not a degree or BEd in PE, while those with a PGCE and a degree are shown only under Degree.
	Source:
	Secondary Schools Curriculum and Staffing Survey.
	The following table shows the proportion of subject periods taught in PE in maintained secondary schools, year groups 7 to 13, by teachers holding a post A level qualification. It shows that in 2002 and 1996 94 per cent. of PE periods were taught by a teacher with a post A level qualification in PE.
	
		Physical education
		
			 Percentage 
			  2002 1996 
		
		
			 Degree 35 15 
			 BEd 37 47 
			 PGCE 5 5 
			 Certificate of education 15 27 
			 Other qualification 2 (20)— 
			 No qualification 6 6 
		
	
	(20) Equals zero or less than 0.5 per cent.
	Notes:
	1. The sum of the percentages may not equal 100 due to rounding.
	2. Teachers may also teach subjects other than PE.
	3. The degree category includes higher degrees but exclude BEds.
	4. Where a teacher has more than one post A level qualification in PE, the qualification level is determined by the highest level reading from left (Degree) to right (Other Qualification). For example, teachers shown under PGCE have a PGCE but not a degree or BEd in PE, while those with a PGCE and a degree are shown only under Degree.
	Source:
	Secondary Schools Curriculum and Staffing Survey.

Primary School Teachers

Phil Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many primary school teachers there are in (a) England, (b) each region and (c) each local education authority, broken down by (i) race and (ii) gender.

David Miliband: Information on the ethnic origin of teachers in the maintained sector is collected annually, but cannot be split by gender or phase of education. A breakdown of the information available for January 2004 at national, regional and LEA level was published in SFR 34/2004, Table 18. A copy of this has been placed in the House of Commons Library. It is also available at the following URL: http://www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000493/index.shtml
	The following table gives the headcount number of qualified full-time and part-time primary teachers employed in maintained nursery and primary schools by gender for England, by region and LEA at March 2003, (the latest information available by gender).
	
		Numbers of qualified regular teachers in service in maintained nursery and primary schools, March 2003
		
			  Full-time Part-time Total 
			  Male Female Male Female Male Female 
		
		
			 Darlington 60 300 (21)— 60 60 360 
			 Hartlepool 50 330 (21)— 20 50 350 
			 Middlesbrough 90 510 (21)— 50 90 570 
			 Redcar and Cleveland 80 500 (21)— 60 80 560 
			 Stockton on Tees 110 630 (21)— 60 110 690 
			 Durham 300 1,630 (21)— 240 310 1,860 
			 Northumberland 60 700 (21)— 170 60 860 
			 Gateshead 120 640 (21)— 60 120 700 
			 Newcastle upon Tyne 90 740 (21)— 90 90 830 
			 North Tyneside 100 570 (21)— 140 100 710 
			 South Tyneside 90 500 (21)— 40 90 530 
			 Sunderland 170 990 (21)— 70 170 1,060 
			 North East 1,330 8,030 20 1,060 1,350 9,090 
			
			 Blackburn with Darwen 90 570 (21)— 110 100 670 
			 Blackpool 100 410 (21)— 60 100 480 
			 Halton 70 420 (21)— 60 70 480 
			 Warrington 120 630 (21)— 120 120 750 
			 Cheshire 390 2,060 10 350 390 2,410 
			 Cumbria 300 1,390 20 400 320 1,780 
			 Bolton 180 890 10 130 180 1,010 
			 Bury 120 520 (21)— 110 130 630 
			 Manchester 270 1,480 10 180 270 1,660 
			 Oldham 140 770 10 130 150 900 
			 Rochdale 120 730 10 100 130 820 
			 Salford 120 770 (21)— 90 120 860 
			 Stockport 120 900 (21)— 210 120 1,110 
			 Tameside 130 750 (21)— 100 130 860 
			 Trafford 110 660 (21)— 100 110 760 
			 Wigan 140 910 (21)— 130 150 1,040 
			 Lancashire 660 3,300 30 900 690 4,190 
			 Knowsley 120 580 (21)— 80 120 660 
			 Liverpool 280 1,540 (21)— 170 280 1,710 
			 St Helens 130 550 (21)— 70 130 620 
			 Sefton 170 890 10 160 180 1,050 
			 Wirral 180 1,000 10 210 190 1,220 
			 North West 4,040 21,710 130 3,960 4,170 25,670 
			
			 East Riding of Yorkshire 180 840 10 230 190 1,070 
			 City of Kingston Upon Hull 170 770 10 130 180 910 
			 North East Lincolnshire 110 500 10 100 120 590 
			 North Lincolnshire 80 500 10 90 90 590 
			 York 100 440 10 120 110 560 
			 North Yorkshire 310 1,620 10 290 310 1,920 
			 Barnsley 140 670 (21)— 60 140 730 
			 Doncaster 190 950 10 140 200 1,080 
			 Rotherham 160 850 (21)— 140 170 990 
			 Sheffield 300 1,420 20 460 320 1,870 
			 Bradford 300 1,790 20 380 320 2,170 
			 Calderdale 130 640 (21)— 140 130 790 
			 Kirklees 220 1,240 10 310 230 1,540 
			 Leeds 420 2,120 10 450 430 2,570 
			 Wakefield 200 980 (21)— 120 210 1,100 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 3,010 15,320 120 3,160 3,130 18,490 
			 Derby 130 740 10 190 140 940 
			 Leicester (22)— (22)— (22)— (22)— (22)— (22)— 
			 Nottingham 210 850 10 270 220 1,110 
			 Rutland (22)— (22)— (22)— (22)— (22)— (22)— 
			 Derbyshire 410 2,090 10 610 420 2,700 
			 Leicestershire 350 1,590 20 510 370 2,100 
			 Lincolnshire (22)— (22)— (22)— (22)— (22)— (22)— 
			 Northamptonshire 310 1,830 10 240 320 2,070 
			 Nottinghamshire (22)— (22)— (22)— (22)— (22)— (22)— 
			 East Midlands 2,480 11,750 80 2,710 2,570 14,460 
			
			 Herefordshire 110 440 (21)— 180 110 620 
			 Stoke on Trent 150 720 (21)— 90 160 810 
			 Telford and Wrekin 80 510 10 60 80 570 
			 Shropshire 170 710 10 200 170 910 
			 Staffordshire 440 2,230 10 400 450 2,630 
			 Warwickshire 240 1,390 10 220 250 1,610 
			 Birmingham 740 3,660 10 440 750 4,110 
			 Coventry 160 970 10 200 170 1,170 
			 Dudley 180 950 10 170 190 1,120 
			 Sandwell 220 950 (21)— 120 220 1,070 
			 Solihull 150 690 (21)— 180 150 870 
			 Walsall 160 830 10 140 170 970 
			 Wolverhampton 140 770 10 140 150 910 
			 Worcestershire 220 1,370 (21)— 330 220 1,700 
			 West Midlands 3,150 16,170 90 2,880 3,240 19,050 
			
			 Luton 110 630 10 160 120 790 
			 Peterborough 100 540 (21)— 120 100 660 
			 Southend on Sea 80 470 10 110 100 590 
			 Thurrock 60 450 10 130 80 570 
			 Bedfordshire (22)— (22)— (22)— (22)— (22)— (22)— 
			 Cambridgeshire 220 1,500 10 330 230 1,830 
			 Essex 600 3,530 30 780 630 4,300 
			 Hertfordshire 380 3,080 20 980 390 4,060 
			 Norfolk 560 2,190 40 670 600 2,850 
			 Suffolk 290 1,600 20 690 310 2,290 
			 East of England 2,450 14,840 150 4,110 2,610 18,940 
			
			 Camden 60 360 10 100 70 460 
			 City of London (21)— 10 (21)— 0 (21)— 10 
			 Hackney (22)— (22)— (22)— (22)— (22)— (22)— 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 40 310 (21)— 60 40 370 
			 Haringey 120 660 10 180 120 840 
			 Islington 90 410 10 80 100 490 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 20 200 10 40 20 240 
			 Lambeth 130 680 10 150 140 830 
			 Lewisham 120 710 20 260 140 970 
			 Newham 190 890 (21)— 90 190 980 
			 Southwark 140 670 10 110 150 780 
			 Tower Hamlets 160 610 20 140 180 750 
			 Wandsworth 80 590 10 170 90 770 
			 City of Westminster (22)— (22)— (22)— (22)— (22)— (22)— 
			 Barking and Dagenham 110 520 (21)— 60 110 580 
			 Barnet 120 840 10 340 130 1,180 
			 Bexley 100 660 10 170 110 830 
			 Brent 90 580 (21)— 100 90 680 
			 Bromley (22)— (22)— (22)— (22)— (22)— (22)— 
			 Croydon 140 970 (21)— 220 150 1,190 
			 Ealing 150 780 10 150 150 930 
			 Enfield 160 850 10 260 170 1,110 
			 Greenwich 100 620 20 180 120 790 
			 Harrow 80 580 (21)— 180 80 760 
			 Havering 120 610 10 170 120 780 
			 Hillingdon 100 690 10 150 100 840 
			 Hounslow 80 580 10 130 90 710 
			 Kingston upon Thames (22)— (22)— (22)— (22)— (22)— (22)— 
			 Merton (22)— (22)— (22)— (22)— (22)— (22)— 
			 Redbridge 130 740 10 170 140 920 
			 Richmond upon Thames 80 400 10 180 80 580 
			 Sutton (22)— (22)— (22)— (22)— (22)— (22)— 
			 Waltham Forest 110 570 10 120 110 700 
			 London 3,260 18,810 250 4,570 3,510 23,380 
			
			 Bracknell Forest 40 270 (21)— 90 50 370 
			 Brighton and Hove 130 590 20 160 150 760 
			 Isle of Wight 30 280 (21)— 80 40 360 
			 Medway 120 720 (21)— 130 120 850 
			 Milton Keynes 130 770 (21)— 170 130 940 
			 Portsmouth 90 530 (21)— 120 90 650 
			 Reading 30 380 (21)— 70 30 450 
			 Slough 50 390 (21)— 80 60 470 
			 Southampton 110 540 10 160 120 700 
			 West Berkshire 60 420 (21)— 190 60 610 
			 Windsor and Maidenhead 30 290 (21)— 130 30 420 
			 Wokingham 50 420 (21)— 130 50 550 
			 Buckinghamshire 210 1,270 10 540 220 1,810 
			 East Sussex 260 1,150 20 410 290 1,560 
			 Hampshire 560 3,430 20 980 580 4,410 
			 Kent 630 3,390 30 920 660 4,310 
			 Oxfordshire 230 1,550 10 320 240 1,870 
			 Surrey 370 3,150 10 830 380 3,980 
			 West Sussex 390 2,030 20 660 410 2,690 
			 South East 3,510 21,580 170 6,180 3,690 27,750 
			
			 Bath and North East Somerset 90 350 (21)— 70 90 420 
			 Bournemouth 250 1,050 10 250 250 1,300 
			 City of Bristol 90 480 (21)— 120 90 600 
			 North Somerset 190 660 (21)— 70 190 730 
			 Plymouth 80 390 (21)— 50 80 440 
			 Poole 160 750 10 270 170 1,020 
			 South Gloucestershire 100 530 (21)— 130 100 660 
			 Swindon 90 310 (21)— 100 90 410 
			 Torbay 350 1,270 10 230 360 1,490 
			 Cornwall 10 10 (21)— 10 10 20 
			 Isles of Scilly 490 1,760 40 550 530 2,310 
			 Devon 160 880 10 180 170 1,060 
			 Dorset 290 1,480 30 610 330 2,090 
			 Somerset 290 1,210 20 230 300 1,440 
			 Wiltshire 210 1,220 20 470 230 1,690 
			 South West 2,930 12,790 170 3,500 3,100 16,290 
			
			 England 26,180 140,990 1,190 32,120 27,360 173,110 
		
	
	(21) Nil or less than 5.
	(22) Not available.
	The information is taken from the Database of Teachers' Records a database maintained primarily for pensions purposes. 10 to 20 per cent. of part-time teachers may not be included. LEAs are shown as not available where data are insufficiently complete to be reliable. National and regional totals show data for all LEAs.

Primary Schools (Middlesbrough, South and East Cleveland)

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, how many primary schools in Middlesbrough, South and East Cleveland are planned to be closed due to falling rolls.

David Miliband: Middlesbrough local education authority is responsible for planning school places in the area. It has to ensure that schools serve the needs of their local communities and provide good quality education in a cost effective way.
	I understand that Middlesbrough LEA is consulting on a number of options for reorganising schools to deal with falling pupil numbers and hopes to publish statutory proposals early in 2005. Any proposals to close Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland schools will be decided locally by the school organisation committee, or by an independent schools adjudicator if the committee cannot reach an unanimous decision.

School Meals

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent discussions he has had on the nutritional standards for food provided at breakfast clubs.

Stephen Twigg: holding answer 2 December 2004
	We are taking forward a number of projects to improve school food and provide consistent messages about healthy eating across the curriculum. We plan to extend our standards for school lunches to cover food consumed in schools throughout the day, which will include food provided at breakfast clubs.

School Meals

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, what steps he is taking to encourage the formation of school nutritional action groups.

Stephen Twigg: holding reply 2 December 2004
	The Healthy Living Blueprint was launched on 6 September 2004. It contains guidelines for schools to develop and implement a whole-school food policy, and school nutrition action groups have helped many schools improve the standard of food provided and consumed throughout the school day. Further information can be found on the website: http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/wholeschool/healthvlivina/wholeschoQlapproach/rmks/
	The headteacher and governing body of a school decide whether or not to form and support a school nutritional action group.

Students

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what financial assistance is available in other EU countries to British students studying there.

Kim Howells: Higher education students from England and Wales do not qualify for financial assistance under the Department's student support arrangements if they are undertaking their entire course at an overseas institution. However, students who are attending a course offered by a UK institution in conjunction with an overseas institution, and who are required to spend a period of study at that overseas institution as part of their UK course, are eligible for financial assistance for the period spent overseas.
	UK students who spend a period overseas under the Erasmus exchange scheme normally receive an Erasmus grant, provided by the European Commission, which contributes towards the extra costs arising from studying abroad.

Students

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  how many non-British students are studying in British universities;
	(2)  how many EU students are studying in British universities.

Kim Howells: The available information has been taken from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) Student Record. In 2002/03, there were 250,195 non-UK domiciled students enrolled on higher education courses at HE institutions in Great Britain and of these, 87,090 were from the EU and 6,390 were from the EU accession countries.

Sure Start

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what consultation exercise has been undertaken to review Sure Start's independent funding.

Margaret Hodge: holding answer 30 November 2004
	Sure Start local programmes were originally intended to be time limited. However, we are now intending, in discussion with local programme managers and local authorities to continue funding Sure Start children's centres as part of ongoing mainstream funding for children's services. We will tell the Sure Start children's centres what their continued funding will be as soon as final discussions are taken.

Sure Start

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether the funding for Sure Start will be ring-fenced when the programme is administered by local authorities.

Margaret Hodge: holding answer 30 November 2004
	We will be discussing with local authorities and Sure Start programmes how to ensure that key services and ways of working successfully delivered by the programmes are maintained as local authorities take on increasing responsibility for planning of children's services including Sure Start local programmes. We expect to begin this process in April 2006, and hope that all programmes will be administered through local authorities by April 2008. We will ensure that ring-fencing remains until we have agreed ways of ensuring that funding mechanisms support the transition from Sure Start local programmes to Sure Start children's centres without jeopardising the quality of services for local families.

Sure Start

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many full-time equivalent posts were being funded by Sure Start programmes on the latest date for which figures are available; and what proportion of these posts are occupied by men.

Margaret Hodge: holding answer 2 December 2004
	The information is not collected centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Tuition Fees (Art Degrees)

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether prospective students who are required to undertake a one-year foundation course prior to commencing an art degree in 2006 will be liable to pay top-up tuition fees for their art degree; and if he will make a statement.

Kim Howells: Students taking art or other foundation courses in 2005/06 (prior to starting their higher education course in 2006/07) will come within the variable deferred fees regime. Such students will be able to take advantage of the new system under which tuition fees do not have to be paid until after graduation (and only then while the individual is earning above a certain level, currently set at £15,000), and of the enhanced student support package in 2006/07, including the new means-tested £2,700 grant.

Universities (Ethnic Minorities)

Rudi Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many black and minority ethnic young men went to university in 2002.

Kim Howells: The available information has been taken from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) Student Record and is given as follows.
	
		UK domiciled, young(23), male entrants(24) to undergraduate HE courses at UK HE institutions, 2002/03
		
			 Ethnicity Male entrants 
		
		
			 White 101,850 
			 Black or black British—Caribbean 895 
			 Black or black British—African 1,755 
			 Other black background 290 
			 Asian or Asian British—Indian 6,720 
			 Asian or Asian British—Pakistani 3.930 
			 Asian or Asian British—Bangladeshi 1,180 
			 Chinese/other ethnic background—Chinese 1,595 
			 Other Asian background 1,505 
			 Mixed—white and black Caribbean 370 
			 Mixed—white and black African 235 
			 Mixed—white and Asian 1,000 
			 Other mixed background 645 
			 Other ethnic background 830 
			 Total known ethnicity 122,800 
			 Not known 2,940 
			 Information refused 2,615 
			 Total 128,355 
		
	
	(23) Aged under 21 years.
	2 Figures only cover first year students on undergraduate courses. There will be further students enrolled on subsequent years of their course.
	Note:
	Figures are a snapshot as at 1 December and are rounded to the nearest 5.
	Source:
	Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) Student Record

Video Conferencing Units

Phil Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many video conferencing units are installed in (a) the Department and (b) each agency of the Department; what percentage of offices have these facilities in each case; and what plans there are to increase the number.

Stephen Twigg: holding answer 2 December 2004
	Every DfES building has a number of videoconferencing units installed within it as follows:
	
		
			  Number of video units installed 
		
		
			 Darlington 7 
			 London (24)19 
			 Runcorn 5 
			 Sheffield 11 
		
	
	(24) 13 Sanctuary Buildings/6 Caxton House
	As the Department no longer has agencies, no figures have been included in respect of that part of the question.
	At the present time, there are no formal plans to increase the number of videoconferencing units in the Department but we constantly monitor the amount of use made of the studios to inform decisions about the potential need for extra facilities.

SCOTLAND

Departmental Mobile Phones

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many departmental mobile telephones were used by Ministers, special advisers and officials in his Department in each year since 1997; at what cost; how many such telephones were lost or stolen in each year since 1997; and what the replacement costs were in each case.

Anne McGuire: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 18 November 2004, Official Report, columns 1739–40W, to the hon. Member for Hertford and Stortford (Mr. Prisk). The replacement cost of the one lost mobile phone was £144.

Timber

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans his Department has to fund the establishment and maintenance of the Central Point of Expertise on Timber.

Anne McGuire: The funding of the Central Point of Expertise for Timber Procurement is a matter for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. The Scotland Office is not involved in the funding arrangements.

CHURCH COMMISSIONERS

IT Contracts

Roger Godsiff: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesborough, representing the Church Commissioners, what the (a) projected cost at the time of tender and (b) actual cost at the time of completion was for each IT contract commissioned by the Commission over the last five years.

Stuart Bell: The Church Commissioners do not generally tender for IT services; these are provided under a common service agreement by the Archbishops' Council.
	The exception is a project to register the Commissioners' rural property interests in compliance with the Land Registration Act 2002, whose IT element is projected to cost £163,000 plus VAT. This will not be completed until December 2007 but we expect actual cost to match this projection.

ELECTORAL COMMISSION COMMITTEE

Voter Participation

Kevin Brennan: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission what action the Electoral Commission has taken to increase the percentage of those from less well-off households who vote.

Peter Viggers: The Electoral Commission aims to be inclusive of the entire electorate in its provision of public awareness information. It produces materials in a variety of formats and uses a wide selection of media outlets. In addition, the Commission has a programme targeting hard to reach groups, including 16 to 24-year-olds outside formal education, and a grants programme.

Overseas Voter Registration

Nigel Evans: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what discussions the Electoral Commission has had with British embassies and high commissions on assisting them to encourage overseas voters to register for general elections.

Peter Viggers: Electoral Commission staff have had discussions with officials at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on the provision of information to overseas posts about electoral registration and voting. The Commission informs me that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has offered to circulate publicity material produced by the Electoral Commission (such as leaflets and posters) through its network of overseas posts and via its website.

TREASURY

ATM Machines

Michael Weir: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what research he has commissioned on the incidence of use of ATM machines by (a) pensioners and (b) benefit recipients in areas in the immediate vicinity of closed former sub-post offices;
	(2)  what research he has commissioned on the number of ATM machines in the vicinity of closed former sub-post offices which make charge for use.

Stephen Timms: None. The Government are committed to tackling financial exclusion and have announced a Financial Inclusion Fund of £120 million to support measures to address financial exclusion as well as establishing a financial inclusion taskforce to monitor progress in three key areas: access to banking services, access to affordable credit and access to face to face money advice. In addition, Postwatch works closely with the Post Office to assess the implications of each proposed post office closure.

Average Earnings

Michael Meacher: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the level of national average earnings has been in each year since 1974 at (a) current prices and (b) today's prices; and what the real terms increase was each year.

Stephen Timms: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Michael Meacher, dated 6 December 2004
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what the level of national average earnings has been in each year since 1974 at (a) current prices and (b) today's prices; and what the real terms increase was each year. (199553)
	Currently average earnings are estimated from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE). Prior to 1998 average earnings were estimated from the New Earnings Survey (NES), and are provided for full time employees on adult rates of pay whose pay was unaffected by absence during the pay period. This is the standard definition used for ASHE and NES tables. The ASHE does not collect data on the self employed and people who do unpaid work.
	I attach a table showing the Average Gross Weekly Earnings of full time employees for 1974 to 2004 based on current and today's prices. Earnings data at today's prices has been calculated with reference to the all items Retail Prices Index (RPI). The RPI is an average measure of the change in prices of goods and services bought for the purposes of consumption by the majority of UK households. For the purposes of this calculation, it is assumed that RPI is an adequate measure of changes in retail prices faced by those particular groups covered by the ASHE.
	The ASHE, carried out in April of each year, is the most comprehensive source of earnings information in the United Kingdom. It is a one per cent sample of all employees who are members of pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) schemes, but because of its sampling frame, it has difficulty capturing data on people with very low pay. It is therefore likely to under-represent relatively low paid staff earning below the tax threshold.
	The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings publication criteria ensures that all estimates are undisclosive. A number of estimates have been removed from the published tables for these reasons.
	
		Average gross weekly earnings for full time employees on adult rates whose pay for pay period was not affected by absence
		
			 £ 
			  Average gross weekly earnings at current prices Average gross weekly earnings at today's(25) prices 
		
		
			 1974 41.7 287.9 
			 1975 54.0 306.4 
			 1976 64.2 306.4 
			 1977 70.2 285.2 
			 1978 79.1 297.8 
			 1979 89.6 306.4 
			 1980 110.2 309.6 
			 1981 124.9 313.1 
			 1982 136.5 312.8 
			 1983(26) 148.3 326.7 
			 1983 147.4 324.8 
			 1984 159.3 333.7 
			 1985 171.0 335.0 
			 1986 184.7 351.2 
			 1987 198.9 362.8 
			 1988 218.4 383.3 
			 1989 239.7 389.4 
			 1990 263.1 390.5 
			 1991 284.7 397.2 
			 1992 304.6 407.5 
			 1993 316.9 418.6 
			 1994 325.7 419.4 
			 1995 336.3 419.1 
			 1996 351.5 427.7 
			 1997 367.6 436.7 
			 1998(27) 384.5 439.1 
			 1998 392.5 448.3 
			 1999 407.8 458.4 
			 2000 425.1 464.1 
			 2001 449.7 482.4 
			 2002 472.1 499.0 
			 2003 487.1 499.2 
			 2004(28) 504.9 504.9 
			 2004(29) 506.9 506.9 
		
	
	(25) Earnings data at today's prices has been calculated with reference to the all items Retail Prices Index (RPI). The RPI is an average measure of the change in prices of goods and services bought for the purposes of consumption by the majority of UK households. For the purposes of this calculation, it is assumed that RPI is an adequate measure of changes in retail prices faced by those particular groups covered by the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings.
	(26) 1974 to 1983 compiled on basis of men aged 21+ and women aged 18+.
	(27) 1983 and 1984 onwards compiled on basis of employees on adult rates.
	(28) 1998 to 2003 are figures from the NES survey with ASHE methodology applied.
	(29) 2004 ASHE data including supplementary surveys to improve coverage.
	Source:
	1974 to 1997 New Earnings Survey, Office for National Statistics 1998 to 2004 Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Office for National Statistics.

Cancer Treatment (Bassetlaw)

John Mann: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the survival rate for patients with cancer at Bassetlaw hospital was in each of the last 20 years.

Stephen Timms: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Mr. John Mann, dated 6 December 2004
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question concerning what the survival rate for patients with cancer at Bassetlaw Hospital was in each of the last 20 years. (201091)
	Cancer survival rates are only available for specific cancers and hence do not indicate overall survival rates for all cancer patients. Rates are not available for individual hospitals, NHS Trusts or Primary Care Organisations. However, figures for the major cancer sites are available for current Strategic Health Authorities and were previously produced for the former Health Authorities.
	The latest available one and five-year survival rates at the sub-national level are for patients 1 diagnosed during 1994–96 and followed up to 31 December 2001. These data are available for Trent strategic health authority, which contains Bassetlaw primary care trust.
	http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Expodata/Spreadsheets/D8028.xls
	Figures for earlier years were for North Nottinghamshire health authority (which included Bassetlaw Hospital). These covered: patients diagnosed during 1992–94 and followed up to the end of 1999,
	http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Expodata/Spreadsheets/D4878.xls
	http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Expodata/Spreadsheets/D5388.xls
	and patients diagnosed during 1993–95 and followed up to the end of 2000.
	http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Expodata/Spreadsheets/D5389.xls
	http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Expodata/Spreadsheets/D5392.xls
	1 Adults aged 15–99 years.

Carers

Paul Burstow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many carers (a) under the age of 18 years and (b) between five and 15 years in (i) England, (ii) each constituency and (iii) each local authority are providing unpaid care for (A) up to 20 hours, (B) between 20 and 49 hours and (C) 50 hours or over a week.

Stephen Timms: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Paul Burstow, dated 6 December 2004
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking for the number of carers (a) under the age of 18 years and (b) between five and 15 years in (i) England, (ii) each constituency and (iii) each local authority, providing unpaid care for (A) up to 20 hours a week, (B) between 20 and 49 hours and (C) 50 hours or over a week. (201222)
	Figures from commissioned table C0399 indicate that on Census day (29 April 2001) there were 139,199 people aged under 18 years providing unpaid care in England of which 90,431 were aged between 5 and 15 years. The extract below shows the distribution of these carers according to the number of hours of care provided per week.
	Number of people in households under the age of 18 providing unpaid care in England
	
		Number of people in households under the age of 18 providing unpaid care in England
		
			  Provision of unpaid care 
			  Total Provides no care Provides care: 1 to 19 hours Provides care: 20 to 49 hours Provides care: 50 or more hours 
		
		
			 Total 11,053,793 10,914,594 116,823 12,284 10,092 
			 0–4 2,923,246 2,923,246 — — — 
			 5–15 6,931,600 6,841,169 76,685 7,026 6,720 
			 16–17 1,198,947 1,150,179 40,138 5,258 3,372 
		
	
	Source :
	Table C0399 Census 2001(Commissioned Table
	Specially commissioned table C0398 has been run to identify the number of people aged under 18 years and (b) the number of people aged between 5 and 15 years who are providing unpaid care in each Parliamentary Constituency in England. The table shows the distribution of these carers according to the number of hours of care provided per week. This has been placed in the House of Commons Library and can also be accessed on the National Statistics website at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/opl5.asp.
	Specially commissioned table C0399 has been run to identify the number of people aged under 18 years and (b) the number of people aged between 5 and 15 years who are providing unpaid care in each Local Authority District in England. The table shows the distribution of these carers according to the number of hours of care provided per week. This has been placed in the House of Commons Library and can also be accessed on the National Statistics website at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/opl5.asp.

Correspondence

David Wilshire: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the Paymaster-General will reply to the letter of 10 November from the hon. Member for Spelthorne, about a constituent, Miss K. McDermott.

Dawn Primarolo: I have done so.

Departmental Advertising/Expenditure

Keith Vaz: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer in which Muslim newspapers the Department advertises; and what kinds of advertising the Department places in Muslim newspapers.

Stephen Timms: In the last two financial years, the only advertisements placed by the Treasury have been for the purpose of staff recruitment and the Treasury has not placed adverts in any media aimed at specific religious or ethnic minority groups.
	The Treasury uses a wide variety of different publications for recruitment advertising, tailored according to the nature of the vacancy to be filled. This includes the use of professional journals and magazines, national and local newspapers, and websites.

Departmental Advertising/Expenditure

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the cost of refurbishing each ministerial private office was in the last two years.

Stephen Timms: None.

Departmental Advertising/Expenditure

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the cost has been of criminal damage to his Department's buildings in each of the last two years.

Stephen Timms: None.

Departmental Advertising/Expenditure

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total cost to his Department was for the use of external consultants in each of the last two years.

Stephen Timms: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave on 25 October 2004, Official Report, columns 1055–56W, to the hon. Member for Stratford-upon-Avon (Mr. Maples) and the hon. Member for New Forest East (Dr. Lewis)

Departmental Mobile Phones

Andrew Selous: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many departmental mobile telephones were used by Ministers, special advisers and officials in his Department in each year since 1997; at what cost; how many such telephones were lost or stolen in each year since 1997; and what the replacement costs were in each case.

Stephen Timms: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave on 20 October to the hon. Member for Hertford and Stortford (Mr. Prisk).

Drug-related Deaths

Ronnie Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many drug-related deaths there were in (a) Blyth Valley and (b) South Northumberland in each of the last five years.

Stephen Timms: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Ronnie Campbell, dated 6 December 2004
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many drug-related deaths there were in (a) Blyth Valley and (b) South Northumberland in each of the last five years. (202056)
	Available figures relate to deaths from drug poisoning, not the total number that were drug-related. Figures are available for the Shire County of Northumberland and local authorities within the county. The most recently available information is for deaths in 2002. Figures are shown in the table below for these areas for the calendar years 1998 to 2002.
	
		Number of deaths from drug-related poisoning(30), local authorities within the Shire County of Northumberland(31),1998 to 2002(32)
		
			 Local authority 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 
		
		
			 Northumberland Shire County 12 20 19 16 24 
			 Alnwick * * * * * 
			 Berwick-upon-Tweed * * * * * 
			 Blyth Valley * 6 5 5 8 
			 Castle Morpeth * * * * * 
			 Tynedale * * * * * 
			 Wansbeck 5 8 7 6 6 
		
	
	* Small numbers (Figures between 0 and 4) have been suppressed to protect patient confidentiality.
	(30) Cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes 292, 304, 305.2–305.9, E850-E858, E950.0-E950.5, E962.0 and E980.0-E980.5 for 1996 to 2000, and the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes FJ1-F16, F18-F19, X40-X44, X60-X64, X85 and Y10-Y14 from 2001 onwards.
	(31) Usual residents.
	(32) Data are for deaths occurring in each calendar year.

EU Institutions

Graham Brady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions he has had with (a) Ministers in other Departments, (b) representatives of other member states and (c) the European Commission regarding the quality of accounting practices in the EU institutions.

Stephen Timms: The Chancellor and other Treasury Ministers have had a number of discussions about the Commission's accounting practices and need for reform with other member states and the European Commission, most recently at the Budget ECOFIN on 25 November on the occasion of the presentation of the European Court of Auditors' annual report. Other UK Government Departments contribute to the briefing for these meetings.

External Trade Commissioner

Graham Brady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he next plans to meet the European Commissioner for External Trade.

Stephen Timms: The Chancellor and other Treasury Ministers have already met several of the new Commissioners including Charlie McCreevy, Dalia Grybauskaite and Danuta Hubner; meetings with other members of the new Commission will follow in due course as part of normal Treasury business.

Government Administration (Staff Numbers)

David Amess: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make a statement on the change in the number of people employed in central Government administration between 1997 and 2004.

Stephen Timms: Data concerning Civil Service numbers between 1997 and 2004 has been published annually in Civil Service Statistics. Current information for 2004 can also be found online at: http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/index.asp.

International Finance Facility

Tony Baldry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer to whom the International Finance Facility will be accountable.

Stephen Timms: The UK's proposal is that the IFF will be a temporary financing framework specifically designed to raise and allocate money needed to meet the millennium development goals by 2015. It will be subject to a set of overarching principles, which will govern disbursement and will be agreed at the establishment of the IFF, and which could include, for example, conditions that funds must be used for poverty reduction and not tied to contracts using suppliers from the donor country. Participating donors will therefore control the IFF's mandate on poverty reduction and its accountability. Reflecting the partnership between donor countries and developing countries, recipient countries would have a significant role within the facility.

Job Vacancies (Pendle)

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many unfilled job vacancies there were in Pendle in the last period for which figures are available.

Stephen Timms: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Colin Mowl to Mr. Gordon Prentice, dated 6 December 2004
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about job vacancies in Pendle. I am replying in his absence. (203039)
	Figures for vacancies in total are only available from the Office for National Statistics Vacancy Survey, which provides information at national level only. For local areas, figures for vacancies held by the Jobcentre Plus administrative system are available for periods up to April 2001. However, due to changes to that system, more recent figures are only available on a reliable basis for newly notified vacancies.
	In April 2001 there were 601 unfilled vacancies which had been registered to Jobcentres in the Nelson and Colne travel to work area. An equivalent figure for Pendle is not available.
	The Jobcentre Plus vacancy figure represents only those vacancies notified to Jobcentres, not all vacancies in an area.

Minimum Wage

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of how many people in Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland are being paid below the minimum wage.

Stephen Timms: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Dr. Ashok Kumar, dated 6 November 2004
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question about how many people in Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland are being paid below the minimum wage. (201496)
	The Office for National Statistics calculates estimates of the number of jobs paid less than the minimum wage, and below various other earnings thresholds, for the United Kingdom and Government Office Regions. A guide to measuring low pay and associated articles and data can be found on the National Statistics website at:
	http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=5837&Pos=1&ColRank=272
	Estimates for Parliamentary Constituencies are not available.

Mortgage Lenders (Dual Interest Rates)

Ross Cranston: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many customers benefited following the ruling by the Financial Ombudsman Service in the lead cases involving dual interest rates by mortgage lenders; what the total amount involved was; and whether this is the largest sum awarded to customers following a ruling on a particular issue.

Stephen Timms: The Financial Ombudsman Service tell me that they first started to receive complaints about dual variable interest rates, in 2001. The Financial Ombudsman Service continued to receive these types of complaints until early 2004. In total, the Financial Ombudsman Service has received 7,256 such complaints. Of the 7,256 complaints received, the Financial Ombudsman Service upheld approximately half of them in favour of the consumer. Where the Financial Ombudsman Service upheld cases, the remedy was to require the lenders concerned to recalculate borrowers' mortgage rates, based on the lower standard rate. In some cases, the remedy also took into account any early repayment charge that a borrower may have paid. The Financial Ombudsman Service does not have a record of the monetary value of these awards.

MRSA

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how often the MRSA virus was listed as a cause of death on a death certificate in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Stephen Timms: holding answer 2 December 2004
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Colin Mowl to Mr. Derek Wyatt, dated 6 December 2004
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many times the cause of death at the Medway Maritime Hospital has been recorded as being due to the MRSA bacterium. I am replying in his absence. (201533)
	The latest year for which figures are available is 2002. The figure for Medway Maritime Hospital was provided in a written answer published in Hansard on 22 July 2004, column 471W.

Parliamentary Questions

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many written questions for his Department were unanswered when Parliament Prorogued; and how many of the unanswered questions were tabled in each of the previous months of the 2003–04 Session.

John Healey: One written question, which first appeared on the day before Prorogation, did not receive a substantive answer in the 2003–04 session. The hon. Member concerned retabled the question on 23 November and it was answered substantively by the Financial Secretary on 30 November.

Parliamentary Questions

Vincent Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what target his Department sets for the maximum acceptable time to respond in full to a parliamentary question; and what percentage of answers given by his Department failed to meet this target in each parliamentary session from 1997–98 to 2003–04.

John Healey: Treasury Ministers are committed to answering parliamentary questions promptly: that is to say, on the day nominated by the questioner, in the case of named day questions; and, for ordinary written questions, within a working week of tabling. No target exists for the maximum acceptable response time.
	In the 2003–04 session, 79 per cent. of House of Commons written questions to the Treasury were answered on time.

Savings

David Amess: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make a statement on the change in personal and retirement saving between 1997 and 2004.

Stephen Timms: Individuals save in a variety of assets, from deposit accounts, pensions, stocks and shares, to homes and businesses.
	Total household assets—including savings, pensions, life insurance and housing—currently stand at over £6 trillion. Total household net wealth—the excess of household assets over debt—has risen by around 50 per cent. in real terms since 1997.
	The Government are committed to a policy framework that enables people to choose how and when to save across the full range of asset-building activities.
	Government policy on saving and pensions has had a very positive effect. The Government provides tax support of £2 billion every year for savers through Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) and other products, resulting in increased take-up of ISAs by both low-income groups and the young. The Government also provides generous tax relief for pension saving worth over £11 billion per year in net terms to individuals and employers and is simplifying the pensions regime by replacing eight regimes with just one, providing greater choice and flexibility to 15 million pension savers.
	The Government's wide-ranging support for saving and pensions includes: empowering individuals with financial information; promoting simpler, fairer and more trusted savings and pensions products, including through the suite of 'Stakeholder' products; and providing targeted incentives and support for saving throughout people's lives—from childhood, to working life and into pension age, including through the Child Trust Fund, Individual Savings Accounts, pensions and the use of matching, as in the Saving Gateway.

Unemployment (Bassetlaw)

John Mann: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) unemployed claimants and (b) long-term unemployed claimants there were in the Bassetlaw constituency in each year since 1990.

Stephen Timms: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Mr. John Mann, dated 6 December 2004
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about how many unemployed claimants and long term unemployed claimants there were in the Bassetlaw constituency in each year since 1990. (201088)
	For the years 1990 to 2003, the attached table shows annual averages of: (a) All Job Seeker's Allowance claimants resident in the Bassetlaw constituency; and (b) among those, the numbers claiming for over 12 months.
	
		JSA claimants resident in the Bassetlaw constituency
		
			 Annual average All claimants Claimants over 12 months(33) 
		
		
			 1990 2,946 617 
			 1991 3,565 793 
			 1992 4,168 1,223 
			 1993 4,512 1,519 
			 1994 4,729 1,639 
			 1995 4,019 1,491 
			 1996 3,488 1,270 
			 1997 2,639 870 
			 1998 2,246 625 
			 1999 2,060 485 
			 2000 1,788 390 
			 2001 1,854 310 
			 2002 1,570 225 
			 2003 1,195 140 
		
	
	(33) Computerised claims only.
	Source:
	Jobcentre Plus administrative system.

Video Conferencing

Norman Lamb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many video conferencing units are installed in (a) the Department and (b) each agency of the Department; what percentage of offices have these facilities in each case; and what plans there are to increase the number.

Stephen Timms: The information requested is as follows:
	HM Treasury
	The Treasury's five video conferencing units (VCs) provide facilities for all the department's staff. There are no plans to increase the number of VCs.
	HM Customs and Excise
	Eight VC units provide facilities to approximately 25 per cent. of Customs' staff.. There are plans to install three or four additional VCs.
	Inland Revenue
	123 of the Inland Revenue's 716 offices (17 per cent.) have VC facilities. The department aims to have 300 units by 2007.
	Royal Mint
	One VC is available at the Royal Mint's site. There are no current plans to acquire more VCs.
	Office of Government Commerce
	There are 13 VCs serving all of OGC's offices. A review of existing facilities is planned for 2005.
	Office for National Statistics
	Seven VCs serve 80 per cent. of ONS offices. Two further units are at present planned and a review of VC facilities is under way.
	National Savings and Investments
	Four units cover all of NS&I's sites. There are no plans to extend VC facilities.
	Valuation Office Agency
	No VC facilities at present, but plans to install VCs in six locations by April 2005.
	Debt Management Office
	Government Actuary's Department
	No VCs installed and none planned for the foreseeable future.

Wage Levels

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the lowest living wage in the UK.

Stephen Timms: Because costs of living vary between households of different types and across the country it is not possible to estimate a definitive living wage for the UK.
	The Government have introduced the national minimum wage to ensure a fair minimum income from work, and the working and child tax credits which enhance work incentives and provide financial support to families. The tax credits respond to family size and circumstances, providing additional income on top of earnings targeted on those who need it most.

CABINET OFFICE

Anti-war Protesters

Julian Lewis: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to her answer of 29 November 2004, Official Report, column 4W, on anti-war protesters, whether the three intruders who reached an office within the building were detected immediately on entering the building; and what measures are being put in place to prevent a similar incident in future.

Ruth Kelly: All four protesters were detected on entering the building; one was challenged immediately, the other three were stopped and challenged a few minutes later once additional security staff had been deployed to the scene. Following the incident immediate measures were taken to reinforce security at the front entrance of the building as a necessary precaution. The Cabinet Office is also reviewing all security procedures.

Cabinet Committee Meetings

Julian Lewis: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many meetings of each Cabinet Committee of which he is a member have been held since his appointment; and how many of these meetings he has attended.

Alan Milburn: I sit on 19 Cabinet Committees.
	It has been established practice under successive Governments not to disclose information relating to the proceedings of Cabinet Committees under Exemption 2 of Part II of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

Departmental Mobile Phones

Julian Lewis: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many departmental mobile telephones were used by (a) Ministers, (b) special advisers and (c) officials in her Department in each year since 1997; at what cost; how many such telephones were lost or stolen in each year since 1997; and what the replacement costs were in each case.

Ruth Kelly: I refer the hon. Member to the answer that I gave to the hon. Member for Hertford and Stortford (Mr. Prisk) on 4 November 2004, Official Report, column 838W.

Ministerial Cars

Oliver Heald: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  what (a) instructions and (b) guidance her Department has issued to the Government Car Service concerning the procurement of ministerial cars, with particular reference to purchasing British-manufactured automobiles, where British models offer at least as good value-for-money as equivalent overseas models;
	(2)  if she will make a statement on her Department's procurement policy with regard to ministerial cars manufactured by British firms.

Ruth Kelly: The responsibility for the provision of ministerial cars and drivers has been delegated under the terms of the Framework Document to the Government Car and Despatch Agency. I have asked its Chief Executive Mr. Nick Matheson to write to the hon. Member. Copies of his letter will be placed in the Library, and is printed as follows:
	Letter from Nick Matheson to Mr. Oliver Heald, dated 6 December 2004
	The Minister of State for the Cabinet Office has asked me in my capacity as the Chief Executive responsible for the Government Car and Despatch Agency to reply to your Parliamentary Questions about procurement of ministerial cars.
	In establishing whether a particular car is suitable for use by the Government Car Service I have to be satisfied that I am achieving value for money, that I meet the guidelines set by the Prime Minister and that I comply with European Union procurement regulations. I cannot favour one manufacturer over another purely on the grounds of the country of manufacture of a particular vehicle.

Special Advisers/Civil Servants

Julian Lewis: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what his policy is on using (a) the services of civil servants, (b) departmental e-mails and (c) the services of his special adviser for party political fundraising.

Alan Milburn: Civil servants and special advisers carry out their duties in accordance with the requirements of the Civil Service Code and the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers as appropriate.

Special Advisers/Civil Servants

Julian Lewis: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether (a) his special adviser and (b) civil servants who report to him have sent e-mails in respect of (i) fundraising and (ii) celebrity or other endorsement purposes to Ministers or their advisers since his appointment.

Alan Milburn: I refer the hon. Member to a letter from the Cabinet Secretary to the hon. Member for Woodspring (Dr. Fox) on 30 November 2004. A copy of the letter has been placed in the Library of the House.

Special Advisers/Civil Servants

Julian Lewis: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what her policy is on using the services of (a) special advisers and (b) civil servants in her Department in relation to party political (i) fundraising campaigns and (ii) celebrity or other endorsements.

Ruth Kelly: I refer the hon. Member to the answer that my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Mr. Milburn) gave him today.

PRIME MINISTER

Climate Change (UK Presidencies)

Norman Baker: To ask the Prime Minister, if he will list the outcomes he aims to achieve in terms of progress on climate change from the UK presidency of (a) the G8 and (b) the EU.

Tony Blair: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 22 June 2004, Official Report, column 1295W.

Correspondence

Simon Burns: To ask the Prime Minister, if he will require Government departments replying to hon. Members' constituency casework to address their responses to hon. Members' House of Commons offices, when the correspondence raising the case has issued from the hon. Member's office in the House.

Tony Blair: Replies to Members' correspondence should be sent to the originating office unless hon. Members specifically request otherwise.
	This will be made clear in the next edition of Cabinet Office guidance on the Handling of Members' Correspondence.

Equatorial Guinea

Michael Ancram: To ask the Prime Minister whether (a) he, (b) Ministers and (c) officials had discussions in an official capacity with the former right hon. Member for Hartlepool during the last 12 months concerning Equatorial Guinea.

Tony Blair: I have had no discussions at any time about Equatorial Guinea with the former right hon. Member for Hartlepool. Officials in No. 10 discussed with him on one occasion recent media reports that named him in connection with the attempted coup.

Equatorial Guinea

Michael Ancram: To ask the Prime Minister, when he first learned of the attempted coup in Equatorial Guinea.

Tony Blair: As my Official Spokesman made clear on Monday 29 November 2004, I did not have prior knowledge of an attempted coup in Equatorial Guinea. I first became aware of this issue when media reports of an attempted coup surfaced in March.

Europe Day

Graham Brady: To ask the Prime Minister how he plans to celebrate Europe Day on 9 May 2005.

Tony Blair: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my hon. Friend the Minister for Europe (Mr. MacShane) on 30 November 2004, Official Report, column 64W.

Iraq Survey Group

Llew Smith: To ask the Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the final copy of the Iraq Survey Group's Report.

Tony Blair: I refer my hon. Friend to the statement made by my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary (Jack Straw) on 12 October 2004, Official Report, columns 151–55, to the answers I gave at the Prime Minister's questions on 13 October 2004, and to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Croydon, South (Mr. Ottaway) at Prime Minister's questions on 3 November 2004, Official Report, column 308.

Ministerial Committees

Norman Baker: To ask the Prime Minister, on how many occasions since 1 January 2004 the Ministerial Committee on Intelligence Services has met.

Tony Blair: This information is withheld under Exemption 2 of the Code of Practice on Access to Information as it relates to the Proceedings of a Cabinet Office.

Special Advisers

Andrew Tyrie: To ask the Prime Minister 
	(1)  if he will list the attributable interviews that his Office's special advisers gave to (a) newspapers, (b) journals, (c) books and (d) other media in their official capacity between 31 March 2003 and 31 March 2004;
	(2)  if he will list the attributable (a) articles and (b) contributions that his Office's special advisers made to (i) newspapers, (ii) journals, (iii) books and (iv) other media in their official capacity between 31 March 2003 and 31 March 2004.

Tony Blair: The information is not held in the format requested.
	All Special Advisers' contacts with the media are conducted in accordance wit6h the requirements of the code of Conduct of Special Advisers.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Bichard Report

Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps the Chief Constable of the Police Service Northern Ireland is taking to implement the recommendations of the Bichard report.

Ian Pearson: It is clear that this is an important challenge for the whole of the UK and I welcome Sir Michael's recommendations. Although his report does not specifically apply to Northern Ireland, we recognise its importance and we have therefore taken the initiative across Government as a whole to ensure they are appropriately applied to Northern Ireland. As a key partner in this critical work, the Police Service of Northern Ireland has established an internal working party to explore the implementation of the Bichard recommendations in the Northern Ireland policing context. The working party comprises operational detectives, staff with particular experience in child protection issues and the investigation of sexual offences, as well as officers with expertise in IT systems and data protection legislation. In addition, a core of staff is working full-time on this project under the direction of the working party.

Bichard Report

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on implementing the recommendations of the Bichard and Kelly reports as they apply to Northern Ireland.

Ian Pearson: Although neither the Bichard report nor the Kelly report apply explicitly to this jurisdiction, it is clear that both contain vital lessons for Northern Ireland. The Government welcome the important protections for children and vulnerable adults contained within the recommendations of these reports, and recognises that it is critical that they should be given the appropriate effect in Northern Ireland. We are therefore taking positive steps to ensure that Northern Ireland benefits from these new measures.
	Urgent work is being taken forward across Government to implement the recommendations of the Bichard Report. In Northern Ireland, a range of organisations are working in partnership to achieve this, including: the Department of Health; Social Services and Public Safety; the Department of Education; the Office of the First and Deputy First Ministers; the Police Service of Northern Ireland; the Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People and the Northern Ireland Office. A key part of this work will be supporting the implementation of the Kelly Report.
	In addition, we are also working closely with colleagues in the Home Office, the Department for Education and Skills, and others to ensure that work in Northern Ireland is effectively coordinated with the wider UK implementation programme. In driving this work forward, however, it will clearly be crucial to take the particular needs of Northern Ireland into account.

Civil Service

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many civil service jobs have been relocated from the Greater Belfast area to each of the constituencies outside Belfast and North Down in the past five years.

Ian Pearson: 40 civil service jobs were relocated from the Greater Belfast/North Down area to the constituency of Foyle in the financial year 2001–02 as a result of a decision to centralise the NICS superannuation functions formerly carried out within Departments. In the year 2002–03 the Department for Social Development relocated 36 jobs to Foyle as a result of the creation of a new Pension Service co-located in Londonderry and Belfast.

Consultants

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much his Department has spent on external consultants in each of the last 10 years.

Ian Pearson: I refer the hon. Lady to the answer I gave on 17 November 2004, Official Report, column 1633W.

Derelict Buildings (Derry)

John Hume: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many buildings in Spencer road in Derry are classified as derelict; what estimate he has made of the value in rates that these buildings would contribute if they were brought back into use as business premises; and how many of these buildings are in Government ownership.

John Spellar: Government do not hold information on the number of buildings on Spencer road that are classified as derelict. Valuation and Lands Agency has confirmed that derelict property does not appear in the Valuation List, as it is not capable of occupation. The Valuation and Lands Agency only assesses the rateable value of such property if and when it becomes capable of occupation. No estimates are made of potential rates liability except in the case of buildings which are to be refurbished for future Government occupation and which are to be subject to an economic appraisal. No such estimates have been prepared for buildings on Spencer Road.
	In relation to property in Government ownership, the Department for Social Development owns the Distillery Brae site, which fronts onto Spencer road and comprises 11 vacant and derelict buildings, and a site at the junction of Spencer road and Lower Fountain Hill, comprising 350 sq m of land.

Driver and Vehicle Testing Centres

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what the average waiting time is for people applying to take a driving test at each driver and vehicle testing centre in Northern Ireland.

Angela Smith: The following table shows the average waiting time between 9 August and 29 November 2004 for all driver test categories.
	
		
			 Test centre Average (days) 
		
		
			 Armagh 33 
			 Ballymena 36 
			 Balmoral 16 
			 Coleraine 39 
			 Cookstown 36 
			 Craigavon 25 
			 Dill Road 17 
			 Downpatrick 43 
			 Enniskillen 62 
			 Larne 47 
			 Lisburn 41 
			 New Buildings 18 
			 Newry 54 
			 Newtownards 44 
			 Omagh 43 
			 Waterside 50 
		
	
	The overall average waiting time for all driver test categories from 9 August to 29 November 2004 was 38 calendar days.

Driver and Vehicle Testing Centres

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many people are waiting on the list for a driving test in (a) Northern Ireland and (b) each of the driver and vehicle testing centres in Northern Ireland; and what the average time is that people are on the pending list in each case.

Angela Smith: At 1 December 2004 there was a total number of 675 people on the pending list—defined as applications received but not yet appointed—for all driver categories. The following table shows the breakdown by test centre.
	The average time for customers on the pending list is not available for each centre, but the average for all centres is 26 days.
	
		
			 Test centre Applications pending 
		
		
			 Armagh 6 
			 Ballymena 11 
			 Balmoral 327 
			 Coleraine 15 
			 Cookstown 1 
			 Craigavon 51 
			 Dill Road 121 
			 Downpatrick 11 
			 Enniskillen 4 
			 Larne 8 
			 Lisburn 5 
			 New Buildings 47 
			 Newry 27 
			 Newtownards 3 
			 Omagh 12 
			 Waterside 26

Driver and Vehicle Testing Centres

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what additional resources have been allocated to the Driver and Vehicle Testing Agency in Northern Ireland to help with the backlog of MOT tests following recent industrial action and to reduce the waiting time for people applying for a driving test in Northern Ireland.

Angela Smith: The Agency is working to restore normal services as soon as possible. Steps being taken include the recruitment from 1 November 2004 of 30 additional staff, the introduction from 1 October 2004 of a more efficient booking programme, and additional overtime working. Certificates of temporary exemption, which allow vehicles to be taxed and driven legally until they can be tested, are being issued where appointments cannot be offered within 21 days. The measures introduced for vehicle testing have the effect of removing some vehicles temporarily from the testing cycle and freeing up capacity to allow the Agency to focus on priority vehicle testing categories and driver testing.

European Constitution

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the effect of the coming into force of the European Constitution on the operation of his Department, with reference to (a) changes in legislative competence, (b) the extension of qualified majority voting, (c) the increased legislative role of the European Parliament, (d) the cost of implementation of regulations, (e) the requirements of adherence to the Charter of Fundamental Rights and (f) the quantity of legislation originating in the EU institutions.

Ian Pearson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr. MacShane) on 29 November 2004, Official Report, column 10W.

Illegal Drinking

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to review the legislation relating to illegal drinking in public in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement.

John Spellar: A review of legislative measures to control drinking in designated public places is currently being undertaken by the Department for Social Development. A proposal for new primary legislation giving district councils and the police new tougher and more effective powers to deal with this problem will be published in 2005.

People Trafficking

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what information he has received regarding the trafficking of people to the Province for prostitution.

Ian Pearson: The Police Service of Northern Ireland has conducted a number of inquiries into suggestions of people-trafficking to Northern Ireland for the purposes of prostitution. There is presently no evidence to suggest that this is taking place in Northern Ireland. The Police Service of Northern Ireland is acutely aware of the problems experienced in other jurisdictions and they continue to monitor the situation closely.

Resources

Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the impact the level of resources available in 2004–05 will have on (a) education and (b) health provision.

Angela Smith: A total of £1.655 billion has been allocated for Education in 2004–05, a 7.9 per cent. increase on 2003–04. This is to maintain service levels, provide for ongoing costs of teachers' pay progression, support for special education pupils, and schools in interface areas, as well as measures to take forward the reform of post-primary education and the new Northern Ireland Curriculum. It will also provide for significant investment in the schools estate.
	In light of overspending by two Education and Library Boards in 2003–04, these Boards are having to take measures to contain expenditure within their 2004–05 allocations. Containment plans received from both Boards are being examined carefully to assess the impact that their proposed actions are likely to have and the scope there might be to minimise any impact on front-line services.
	In health and social services, a total of £3.125 billion has been allocated for 2004–05. This investment has enabled levels of services delivered in previous years to be maintained and is also providing for a range of service development across a number of key priority areas. These include, for example, action designed to improve access to GPs and other primary care professionals, an increase of the number of people being supported in community settings, continued action to reduce hospital waiting lists and waiting times, an increase of the number of patients with arthritis who have access to drug therapies, the provision of better support for children and young people in need and the continued promotion of healthier lifestyles.

Unemployment (Lagan Valley)

Jeffrey M Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the unemployment levels for the Lagan Valley constituency were in each year since 1997.

Barry Gardiner: Claimant count unemployment numbers and rates for the Lagan Valley Parliamentary Constituency Area (PCA) for the month of October of each year from 1997 to 2004 are as follows.
	
		
			 October each year Number unemployed Rate 
		
		
			 1997 1,914 3.1 
			 1998 1,787 2.9 
			 1999 1,333 2.1 
			 2000 1,122 1.8 
			 2001 1,122 1.8 
			 2002 1,020 1.6 
			 2003 982 1.5 
			 2004 878 1.4

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Dobson Report

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when she expects her Department to respond to the report "Getting serious about play" by the committee chaired by the right hon. Member for Holborn and St Pancras (Mr. Dobson).

Estelle Morris: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State will write to the right hon. Member for Holborn and St. Pancras shortly setting out her response to his review.

Cricket (Zimbabwe)

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether she has met the England and Wales Cricket Board to discuss future matches in Zimbabwe.

Richard Caborn: Neither my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State nor I has met the ECB to discuss future matches in Zimbabwe and we have no plans to do so in the near future. As my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary said on 6 May, at a joint press conference with David Morgan, Chairman of the ECB, and myself: "It is appropriate for the Government to express a view about issues of this kind. We would have preferred the tour to be postponed until the situation in Zimbabwe improves. But it is right that in our system it is for sporting authorities to make the decisions in cases such as this".

ITV Regional Companies

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent discussions she has held with Ofcom regarding ITV's regional television commitments.

Tessa Jowell: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave earlier today to the hon Member for Selby (Mr. Grogan) regarding regional commitments.

National Lottery/Grants

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what contribution grants from Lottery distributors have made to combating social exclusion in Glasgow.

Estelle Morris: Lottery distributors are required to take into account the need to reduce economic and social deprivation in making awards.
	It can be difficult to determine precisely the extent of their contribution to reducing social exclusion but a significant number of Lottery-funded projects have helped to regenerate inner cities, create employment and strengthen communities. Glasgow, Maryhill has received over 300 awards totalling over £46,000,000 from the Lottery.

National Lottery/Grants

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the areas of the country that have received the lowest Lottery funding.

Estelle Morris: The Government want to see all areas of the country and all sections of the population benefiting from the huge success of the National Lottery.
	We consulted widely on the Lottery and our reforms will provide a more streamlined and transparent application process for applicants, so that more communities can benefit.

National Lottery/Grants

Peter Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment her Department has made of the use of National Lottery grants in combating social exclusion in Lancashire and the north-west.

Estelle Morris: Lottery distributors are required to take into account the need to reduce economic and social deprivation in making awards.
	It can be difficult to determine precisely the extent of their contribution to reducing social exclusion but a significant number of Lottery-funded projects have helped to regenerate inner cities, create employment and strengthen communities. Burnley has received over 200 awards totalling over £12,000,000 from the Lottery.

National Lottery/Grants

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much was spent on lottery tickets in Pendle constituency in the latest 12-month period for which figures are available; and what the total for lottery awards in Pendle was during the same period.

Estelle Morris: The National Lottery operator, Camelot, do not collect ticket sales information on a constituency basis and do not routinely collect ticket sales on a postcode basis. They have however been able to provide an updated table detailing sales by postcode area since the lottery began. I am arranging for copies of the updated table to be placed in the Libraries of both Houses. In 2003–04 there were 26 awards in Pendle to a total value of £998,482.

Disability Discrimination Act (Compliance)

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what guidance she has given to English Heritage on the advice it gives to those responsible for bringing town and village halls into compliance with the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.

Estelle Morris: The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport has not issued formal guidance to English Heritage (EH) in relation to implementation of the DDA 1995 to historic properties. EH is the statutory advisor on all aspects of the historic environment. They are fully responsible for assisting owners and occupiers of historic buildings and sites in complying with the requirements of the 1995 Act.

BBC (Regional Services)

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what account she will take during BBC charter renewal of the services provided by the BBC to the nations and regions of the UK.

Tessa Jowell: The BBC's services to the nations, regions and communities of the UK are central to Charter Review—indeed my independent adviser, Lord Burns, recently hosted a public seminar on exactly this subject. Full transcripts and video are available from the Charter Review website.

Children's Activities

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what progress has been made on her Department's target on activity for children.

Estelle Morris: We share with the Department for Education and Skills a Public Service Agreement target to increase the percentage of school children spending a minimum of two hours each week on high-quality PE and school sport within and beyond the curriculum to 75 per cent. by 2006 and 85 per cent. by 2008. A survey of over 6,000 schools in school sport partnerships, published this April, showed that we are making good progress with over 62 per cent. of pupils taking up two hours.

Creative Partnerships

James Purnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the progress made by Creative Partnerships towards the Government's plans to offer a universal cultural entitlement to all children and young people.

Estelle Morris: The aim of Creative Partnerships is to give children and young people, particularly those living in disadvantaged areas, access to rich and diverse cultural experiences through working directly with artists and other creative professionals. 25 Creative Partnerships have been established so far, with a further 11 due to begin in September 2005. By this time coverage will have extended to 65 local education authority areas. Creative Partnerships is already having a significant impact. By November 2004, there had been over 217,000 attendances by young people at more than 2,500 projects, and the programme had also provided over 141,000 hours of professional development to teachers and creative professionals.

Departmental Mobile Phones

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many departmental mobile telephones were used by Ministers, special advisers and officials in her Department in each year since 1997; at what cost; how many such telephones were lost or stolen in each year since 1997; and what the replacement costs were in each case.

Richard Caborn: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Hertford and Stortford (Mr. Prisk) on 19 October 2004, Official Report, column 605W.

Digital Television

Peter Atkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent discussions she has had with (a) the BBC and (b) other analogue television providers about the extension of digital television services in rural Britain.

Tessa Jowell: Discussions are currently taking place between the Government, Ofcom, the BBC, and the other Public Service Broadcasters on the detailed plans for switchover.
	The Government are committed to ensuring that all households who can currently get public service broadcasting channels in analogue form, including those in rural areas, can continue to receive them on digital systems at switchover.

Everest (Sagarmatha) National Park

Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will support the proposal that UNESCO place the Everest (Sagarmatha) National Park on the World Heritage Danger List.

Richard Caborn: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Lewes (Norman Baker) on 1 December 2004, Official Report, column 173W. As a member of the World Heritage Committee we will consider the information requested at the 29th session and whether the threats justify recommending that the site be placed on the World Heritage in Danger list.

Gambling Commission

Adrian Flook: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether the budget to set up the proposed Gambling Commission will be found from within the departmental budget for 2005–06.

Richard Caborn: Assuming enactment of the Gambling Bill currently before the House, provision will be made from the departmental budget in 2005–06 to enable the Gambling Commission to be established; but additional provision will be needed in the following year to enable the commission to take on all the responsibilities which the Bill gives it.

Museums and Galleries

Adrian Flook: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether the Reform and Modernisation Funding Budget for (a) 2005–06 and (b) future years within the National Museum and Galleries division of her Department has been (i) partially and (ii) fully diverted elsewhere.

Estelle Morris: The Reform and Modernisation budget is a small fund of £10 million held centrally by DCMS. It is not held by the Museums and Galleries Division and it is available to all the Department's funded bodies, although funds have been allocated to Museums and Galleries from this source in 2004–05. The allocation of funds for 2005–06 has yet to be determined. No decision has yet been taken about the size of the fund in future years.

School Sport

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much of the £750 million pledged by the Prime Minister to school sport has been (a) committed and (b) spent.

Richard Caborn: The Government have invested £750 million in the New Opportunities for PE and Sport Programme across the United Kingdom. £581 million was allocated to England, of which £25 million was passed to the Space for Sport and the Arts Programme and £30 million set aside for football projects to be distributed via the Football Foundation. Of the remaining £526 million, £336.9 million had been committed and £22.4 million spent by October 2004. 1,000 awards have been made across all local education authorities.
	The programme is ahead of schedule and is on course to have the great majority of new facilities in place by spring 2006, as planned. We expect that the majority of funding will be committed by the end of 2004, ahead of the 2005 deadline set in the Policy Directions.

School Sport

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sportwhat the target for participation in school sport is in (a) the UK, (b) France, (c) Germany, (d) Spain, (e) Italy, (f) Denmark and (g) Sweden.

Richard Caborn: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for Education and Skills share a Public Service Agreement target to increase the percentage of 5–16 year olds who spend a minimum of two hours each week on high quality PE and school sport to 75 per cent. by 2006; and to 85 per cent. by 2008. This Department does not hold information about the targets set in other countries.

Sports and Community Clubs

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sportwhat action she is taking to reduce the costs of compliance with the provisions of the Licensing Act 2003 for sports and community clubs.

Richard Caborn: The Government's policy is for licensing fees to be set at a level that allows full recovery of the administration, inspection and enforcement costs falling on licensing authorities. It would be wholly wrong for the taxpayer to subsidise the consumption of alcohol, and it would be difficult to argue that the best way to promote sport is through Government subsidising sports club bars. To ensure fair and equitable arrangements, the fees will be in graduated bands based on the non-domestic rateable value of the premises concerned. Most sports and community clubs will fall at the lower end of these variable fee levels. The draft fees for the new licensing regime were published on 4 November and are open to consultation until 23 December. We have invited comments from sports and community clubs as part of that consultation and will carefully consider all responses before the fee levels are finalised.

Swimming Pools

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps she is taking to prevent closures of (a) indoor and (b) outdoor swimming pools in London.

Richard Caborn: There are currently 104 swimming pools in London open to the public.
	The Government accept that all sports facilities eventually come to the end of their useful life and need to be closed or replaced. However, it is important that we continue to provide new or replacement swimming facilities where there is a gap in local provision.
	In the last ten years Sport England has awarded lottery grants for the construction of 92 swimming pools in this country, and eight of these were London projects.

DEFENCE

Anthrax (Gulf War)

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the anthrax supplied by the American Type Culture Collection was the same strain as that used to treat United Kingdom service personnel during the first Gulf War.

Ivor Caplin: As far as we are aware the American Type Culture Collection does not currently hold any strain of anthrax on its catalogue.
	Anthrax is not used and has never been used to treat British Troops.

Army Recruitment

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what control measures on recruitment have been placed on each level of the Army over the past three years.

Ivor Caplin: Minor adjustments to recruiting are made routinely from time to time, in order to achieve required Army manpower numbers and to ensure a correct balance between individual Arms and Services. Occasionally this results in some individuals who successfully pass through the selection process being given delayed dates to commence their Phase One (basic) training.

Departmental Costs

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the total cost to his Department was for the use of external consultants in each of the last two years.

Adam Ingram: Summaries of Ministry of Defence expenditure on external assistance, of which consultancy is a part, are available in the Libraries of both Houses for financial years 1995–96 to 2003–04. However, expenditure on external consultants is not recorded as a specific category, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Telephones

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the cost to his Department of unauthorised personal calls made by members of staff to (a) domestic numbers and (b) international numbers in the last year for which figures are available.

Ivor Caplin: This information is not held centrally and can be provided only at disproportionate cost. Bills are scrutinised by individual sites and further investigations made if abuse of the telephone service is suspected.

EU Military Staff

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list UK personnel serving on the EU military staff; and what the role of each is.

Geoff Hoon: On 16 November 2004 the UK had 18 personnel employed in the EU Military Staff.
	1. Brigadier—Policy and Plans Division—Assistant Chief of Staff
	2. Captain (RN)—Chief of Staff's Office—European Defence Agency Establishment Team
	3. Colonel—Logistics and Resources Division—Head of Logistics Section
	4. Commander—Operations and Exercises Division—Staff Officer Exercises
	5. Commander—Logistics and Resources Division—Staff Officer Logistics
	6. Commander—Policy and Plans Division—Staff Officer Concepts
	7. Lieutenant Colonel—Chief of Staff's Office—Liaison to EU Special Representative Office, Sarajevo
	8. Lieutenant Colonel—Operations and Exercise Division—Staff Officer Crisis Management
	9. Lieutenant Colonel—Communications and Information Systems Division—Staff Officer Policy and Requirements Section—Geo-spatial
	10. Wing Commander—DG BUMS Executive Office—Staff Officer EUMS Coordination
	11. Wing Commander—Intelligence Division—Staff Officer Intelligence Production
	12. Wing Commander—Logistics and Resources Division—Staff Officer Resources Support
	13. Wing Commander—Communications and Information Systems Division—Staff Officer Policy and Requirements Section
	14. Warrant Officer—Intelligence Division—Warrant Officer Production
	15. Sergeant—Policy and Plans Division—Administrative Assistant
	16. Corporal—Communications and Information Systems Division—Administrative Assistant Policy and Requirements Section
	17. Civilian Grade C—Chief of Staffs Office—PA
	18. Civilian Grade C—Logistics and Resources Division—Secretary

EU Political and Security Committee

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence to whom the UK's representative to the EU Political and Security Committee is responsible.

Geoff Hoon: The United Kingdom's representative on the EU Political and Security Committee is responsible for conveying the views of the Government. Ultimately he is responsible, through the line management chain, to the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.

European Defence Agency

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what date the UK joined the European Defence Agency.

Geoff Hoon: The European Defence Agency was formally established on 12 July 2004, under the Council Joint Action 2004/551/CFSP, whereupon the United Kingdom became a participating member state.

Frontline Capability

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the effect that the proposed reductions in (a) Commander-in-Chief Fleet, (b) Commander-in-Chief Land Command, (c) Commander-in-Chief Strike Command and (d) Chief of Defence Logistics will have on frontline capability; and if he will make a statement.

Geoff Hoon: The alterations to budgetary allocations for the CinC Fleet, CinC Land, CinC Strike and DLO included in Winter Supplementary Estimates represent decreases in depreciation and cost of capital charges relating to previously planned fixed asset holdings. The changes bring these Top Level Budgets into line with the revised defence programme announced on 21 July 2004.

Future Surface Combatant Vessels

Andrew Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what decisions have been made about the prospects for the Future Surface Combatant vessel for the Royal Navy; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 29 November 2004
	The Future Surface Combatant (FSC) project is still in its concept phase. No decisions have yet been taken about the timescale for delivering the FSC capability, and studies continue to develop ideas for the platform solution.

HMS Daring

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the expected in-service date is for HMS Daring; and when he expects it to be fully operational.

Adam Ingram: The current forecast for the in-service date of the first of class T45, HMS Daring, is mid 2009. The ship is planned to be fully operational shortly after this date once the Ship's company have completed the necessary Operational Sea Training.

Iraq

Alice Mahon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether napalm or a similar substance has been used by the Coalition in Iraq (a) during and (b) since the war.

Adam Ingram: No napalm has been used by Coalition forces in Iraq either during the war-fighting phase or since.

Iraq

Julie Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what roles Iraqi troops are undertaking in Iraq.

Adam Ingram: Iraqi Security Forces, including the Iraqi Police Force, the Iraqi Army, the Iraqi National Guard, the Facilities Protection Service and the Department of Border Enforcement are undertaking a wide range of law-enforcement and internal security tasks in Iraq, in combination with coalition forces. Recent operations have demonstrated that they are becoming increasingly capable at fulfilling these duties.

Military Operations (EU)

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence where provision will be made within the UK public expenditure arrangements for the cost of the UK contribution to EU military operations.

Geoff Hoon: The cost of the United Kingdom contribution to military operations will be met from within total planned public expenditure. It is likely that most of the agreed UK costs will be met from within the contingency provision set aside in spending reviews to cover such eventualities.

Missile Defence System

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  if he will make a statement on discussions between US Lieutenant General Obering and his Department in relation to the UK hosting interceptor missiles for the US missile defence system;
	(2)  which UK military bases have been considered for the citing of interceptor missiles as part of the US missile defence system.

Geoff Hoon: The Government have not yet decided whether the United Kingdom requires its own missile defence, and has not received a request from the US to base interceptors in the UK as part of the US missile defence system. It would therefore be premature to consider specific military sites for basing interceptors, or any other part of a missile defence system for the UK. Contacts with the US, including Lieutenant General Obering and other US officials, cover a wide range of issues related to missile defence but do not involve discussions about specific sites.

Parachute Pay

Russell Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) officers and (b) soldiers in the Army are in receipt of parachute pay.

Adam Ingram: According to the Army records on pay and allowances, there were around 330 officers and 2,640 soldiers in receipt of parachute pay as at 26 November 2004.

Private Land (Military Exercises)

Mark Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on (a) the use of private land by his Department for military exercises and (b) the mechanism for obtaining consent for such use from private landowners.

Ivor Caplin: The use of private land for military training generally involves long standing relationships between the Ministry of Defence and private landowners. Consent for the use of private land is obtained via a variety of means ranging from formal leases to periodic ad-hoc agreements with the owners.

Staffing

Russell Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) established and (b) non-established personal staff support (i) the Chief of the Defence Staff and (ii) the Chief of the General Staff, broken down by (A) rank, (B) job title, (C) regiment and (D) annual salary.

Ivor Caplin: CDS' Personal Office consists of the following:
	1. Commodore, Personal Staff Officer to CDS, Royal Navy, Salary band for rank: £78,226.80 to £81,562.90.
	2. Group Captain, Deputy Personal Staff Officer to CDS, Royal Air Force, Salary band for rank: £65,218.20 to £72,083.85.
	3. Lieutenant Colonel, Military Assistant to CDS, Royal Artillery, Salary band for rank: £56,315.85 to £62,254.40.
	4. Captain, Aide-de-Camp to CDS, Army Air Corps, Salary band for rank: £31,853.55 to £37,883.35.
	5. Civil Service Band D, Personal Assistant to CDS, Civil Servant, Salary range for payband D: £16,672 to £26,002.
	CGS' Personal Office consists of the following:
	1. Lieutenant Colonel, Military Assistant 1 to CGS, Royal Artillery, Salary band for rank: £56,315.85 to £62,254.40.
	2. Major, Military Assistant 2 to COS, Royal Dragoon Guards, Salary range for rank: £40,124.45 to £48,055.90.
	3. Captain, Aide-de-Camp to COS, Adjutant General's Corps, Salary band for rank: £31,853.55 to £37,883.35.
	4. Warrant Officer 2, Personal Assistant, Adjutant General's Corps, Salary band for rank: £30,287.70 to £36,335.75.
	All of these are established posts.

Timber

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans his Department has to fund the establishment and maintenance of a central point of expertise on timber.

Ivor Caplin: We are currently considering our position on the funding of a central point of expertise for timber.

UK-US Mutual Defence Agreement

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the amendments to the US/UK 1958 Mutual Defence Agreement on atomic energy matters will enter into force; and what opportunities there will be for hon. Members formally to object to the coming into force;.

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects the Mutual Defence Agreement with the United States to be renewed.

Geoff Hoon: The Amendment to the 1958 US/UK Mutual Defence Agreement, including the renewal of Article III (bis) for a further 10 years, was laid before Parliament on 21 June for a period of 21 days under the Ponsonby Rule. This period ended on 22 July. The Amendment has also now completed the period it was required to lie before Congress and will shortly be brought into force by an Exchange of Notes. The Government has previously made clear that it would not undertake to find time to debate renewal of a longstanding agreement such as this.

Veterans' Illnesses (Gulf War)

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the report of the US Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses; and if he will make a statement.

Ivor Caplin: The Ministry of Defence is aware of the report of the US Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses and has noted its findings. The report is a review of some existing research and we were already familiar with most of the material presented.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Departmental Costs

Edward Davey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps he has taken to ensure that telephones in his Department are not used by staff for making unauthorised personal calls to international numbers.

Phil Hope: Access to all international numbers is only granted to staff who have a business need to make such calls. Calls to some foreign mobile networks, are barred completely. Call logs are monitored to ensure compliance.

Departmental Costs

Edward Davey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the estimated cost is to his Department of unauthorised personal calls made by members of staff to (a) domestic and (b) international numbers.

Phil Hope: Automatic logs are kept of all calls and regular reviews carried out. From those reviews there is little evidence of unauthorised use by members of staff. When any has been identified the cost has been recovered.

Fidlers Ferry Power Station

Helen Jones: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, if he will make a statement on the effect of the transfer of Fidlers Ferry power station from the national list to the local list on the Local Authority Business Growth Incentive Scheme; and how much money was lost to Warrington borough council as a result.

Nick Raynsford: Warrington has made representations about the effect of the transfer of the power station on its ability to benefit from Local Authority Business Growth Incentive Scheme (LABGI), as part of the recent consultation exercise. These and other representations will be considered very carefully in deciding the final shape of the scheme.
	An authority's ability to benefit from LABGI will depend not only upon the final design of the scheme but crucially on how well it performs in generating economic growth. No authority will lose money as a result of LABGI since the funding, which is worth up to £1 billion in England and Wales in the first three years, is entirely additional.

Fire Service

Kate Hoey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what changes have occurred to the entry level fitness tests for the fire service since 2000.

Phil Hope: The 1978 regulations which included entry level fitness tests were replaced on 25 March 2004 by the Fire Services (Appointments and Promotion) Regulations (England and Wales) 2004. These included a general requirement that an appointee's general state of health and fitness should be satisfactory to carry out the duties of the role. Consultants who are experts in the field of physical and psychological testing were appointed by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister to draw up new advisory point of entry selection tests in consultation with stakeholders. Concerns that previous fitness tests may have had specific adverse impact on the recruitment of women are being addressed in the development of the new tests, which are expected to be available in May 2005. Pending the completion of these tests, it is the responsibility of each fire and rescue authority to ensure that any tests or procedures used for the selection and appointment are relevant to the job and do not unfairly discriminate on any grounds.

Gypsies and Travellers

Peter Luff: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, if he will make it his policy to license caravans used by Gypsies and Travellers to facilitate identification of the owner when this is needed to enforce planning law and policy.

Keith Hill: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does not intend to introduce such a policy. If licensing and registration of caravans was to be introduced, it is very difficult to see how it could be restricted to particular categories of keeper, such as "Gypsies" or "Travellers".

Gypsies and Travellers

Peter Luff: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, under what ethnic status Gypsies and Travellers are classified in relation to planning law.

Keith Hill: The planning definition of a gypsy does not rely on ethnicity. Gypsies are defined in section 16 of the Caravan Sites Act 1968 as persons of nomadic habit of life, whatever their race or origin, who wander or travel for the purpose of making or seeking their livelihood.

Gypsies and Travellers

Peter Luff: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether regional spatial strategies are required to take account of provisions for Gypsies and Travellers; and whether they will specify pitch numbers that must be provided by each local authority in the region.

Keith Hill: Gypsy and Traveller accommodation needs must, in the future, be assessed by each local authority as part of the overall local housing assessment process. Data from these assessments will feed into the evidence which underpins Regional Housing and Spatial Strategies. The Regional Planning Body will consider overall regional need and put into the Regional Spatial Strategies (RSS) the amount of site provision needed in each local authority area during the RSS period.

High Hedges

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what progress has been made since the completion of the consultation process on the implementation of the provisions of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 relating to high hedges; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Hope: In the light of the responses to the consultation the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is currently revising the guidance for local authorities and the Regulations to bring Part 8 of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 into force. We intend to issue the guidance to local authorities at the same time as we lay the Regulations before Parliament and expect the complaints system to be fully operational early in 2005.

Home Ownership

Karen Buck: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many shared ownership properties were sold in Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea in each year since 1997; and how many of those properties were purchased by someone (a) already in social housing in that area, (b) on the single housing register in that area and (c) a key worker.

Keith Hill: A table containing this information for every local authority in England has been made available in the Library of the House.
	The table includes, for each financial year from 1997–98 to 2003–04 and for every English local authority and Government Office Region:
	the number of shared ownership sales;
	how many shared ownership sales were to people who were previously social tenants in the area;
	how many shared ownership sales were to people who were registered on a local authority waiting list/common housing register.
	Note that the figures relate to the sales of initial shares only. Subsequent purchases of additional equity are not included.
	It should be noted that figures on the number of key workers that bought shared ownership properties during the period 1997–98 to 2003–04 are not available. This is because the purchaser's occupation was not collected as part of CORE Sales during this period.

Homelessness

Paul Marsden: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many homeless households were in temporary accommodation in Shrewsbury and Atcham (a) in May 1997, (b) in June 2001 and (c) at the latest available figures.

Keith Hill: Local authorities report their activities under homelessness legislation quarterly, and this includes the number of homeless households in various forms of temporary accommodation as on the last day of the quarter. Information reported by Shrewsbury and Atcham DC is tabled as follows. At the 30 June 2004, 70 per cent. of households were accommodated in stock owned by a Registered Social Landlord; and 29 per cent. were in hostel accommodation. There was only one household in B&B type accommodation.
	
		Homeless households(34) in temporary accommodation arranged by Shrewsbury and Atcham district council
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 31 March 1997 39 
			 30 June 1997 40 
			 30 June 2001 121 
			 30 June 2004 77 
		
	
	(34) Households in accommodation either pending a decision on their homelessness application or awaiting re-allocation of a settled home following acceptance. Excludes those households designated as "homeless at home" that have remained in their existing accommodation and have the same rights to suitable alternative accommodation as those in accommodation arranged by authorities.
	Note:
	Data are not available for the position in May 1997
	Source:
	ODPM P1E homelessness returns (quarterly)

Housing

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister which authorities have decided their stock options appraisal in favour of (a) stock transfer, (b) arm's length management organisation, (c) private finance initiative and (d) stock retention by the council; how many homes each authority has in each case; which authorities have yet to advise his Office of their intentions; and how many homes they own in each case.

Keith Hill: The tables made available in the Library of the House show what options each of the 233 authorities that owned stock at 1 of April 2004 have chosen in order to meet the decent homes target. Prior to this date 131 had authorities transferred their stock. Private Finance Initiative (PFI) is never a whole stock solution and so authorities that have chosen PFI for part of their stock are listed separately. Some authorities have more than one PFI scheme.

Housing

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what estimate he has made of the total amount spent over the last two years by councils in (a) consultancy fees, (b) other fees, (c) information, (d) videos and (e) other ways in ballots for large-scale voluntary transfers or arm's length management organisations (ALMOs); what proportion of this sum was accounted for by funding provided to councils by his Department; how much was charged to successful registered social landlords and ALMOs; and how much was lost in unsuccessful ballots.

Keith Hill: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does not collect information on the amount spent by local authorities on activities in preparation for ballots for large scale voluntary transfers or arms length management organisations. It is up to individual authorities to decide how much they will spend on these activities.

Housing

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what estimate he has made of the amount of private capital brought into social housing by large-scale voluntary transfers in each of the last four available years.

Keith Hill: The estimated amount of private finance investment available to large scale voluntary transfers that have taken place in the last four years is tabled.
	
		
			  Amount of private finance (£ billion) 
		
		
			 2001 1.39 
			 2002 1.59 
			 2003 1.10 
			 2004 0.71 
			 Total 4.79

Housing (Overcrowding)

Karen Buck: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he expects to issue a consultation paper on the revision of standards for determining levels of overcrowding.

Keith Hill: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister hopes to publish a consultation paper on the overcrowding standards in March.

Housing Stock

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list local authorities that have transferred their housing stock to a registered social landlord, giving in each case (a) the date of the ballot and (b) the percentage for and against transfer.

Keith Hill: The details of local authorities who have transferred their housing stock to Registered Social Landlords (RSLs), the date of transfer and the percentage of tenants who voted in favour and against has been made available in the Library of the House.

Housing Stock

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the average amount spent renovating a property in each of the Pathfinder areas in England was in the latest period for which figures are available.

Keith Hill: The information requested is not available. Information about the average dwelling costs for elements of market renewal Pathfinders' programmes—including refurbishment—will be collected annually. Data for the year ending 31 March 2005 will be submitted by 15 July.

Local Government Pension Scheme

Tony Cunningham: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make it his policy to postpone changes to the local government pension scheme until after the consultation for a new scheme to be introduced in April 2008 has been completed.

Phil Hope: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Normanton (Mr. O'Brien) on 1 December 2004, Official Report, column 125W.

Millennium Dome

Andrew Robathan: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much (a) the maintenance of and (b) security at the Millennium Dome (i) cost in 2003–04 and (ii) has cost to date in 2004–05.

Keith Hill: In 2003–04, expenditure incurred on maintenance of the Dome site was £755,000 and £580,000 was incurred on security.
	In 2004–05, up to the end of September, expenditure incurred on maintenance of the Dome site was £261,000 and £285,000 was incurred on security.

Ministry of Defence Land

Mike Hancock: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what role English Partnerships is playing in the disposal of Ministry of Defence land; which sites are involved; and if he will make a statement.

Keith Hill: English Partnerships and Defence Estates announced on 10 November the agreement of a framework document setting out arrangements to work closely together on the future use of surplus defence land. These joint working arrangements are intended to allow Defence Estates to deliver its disposal programme and for English Partnerships to help deliver the objectives set out in the Government's Sustainable Communities Plan (February 2003).
	Following the publication of the Communities Plan, the Government have put in place arrangements through English Partnerships to make better use of surplus public sector land, including setting up a Register of surplus land held by central government bodies.
	The agreement between English Partnerships and Defence Estates covers sites that are or will become surplus to Defence requirements. The use of these sites to help deliver the Government's Sustainable Communities Plan will now be considered before they are put on the open market. This is in line with arrangements established for the Register of surplus public sector land and procedures set out in Government Accounting.

Official Visits

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list each foreign country he has visited on an official visit since 1997, broken down by date.

Phil Hope: The Government publishes a list of all visits overseas by Cabinet Ministers costing in excess of £500 on an annual basis. The list for the period 1 April 2003 to 31 March 2004 was published by the Prime Minister on 22 July 2004, Official Report, column 465W. The next list for the period 1 April 2004 to 31 March 2005 will be published at the end of the financial year.

Regional Assemblies

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether his announcement on 1 November of new transport powers for elected regional assemblies represented an addition to the powers set out in the Draft Regional Assemblies Bill.

Nick Raynsford: This announcement was made by the Labour Party and made clear that an elected regional assembly would have a significantly greater role and say in transport issues than the present regional chamber.
	My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister confirmed in a statement to the House on 8 November 2004, Official Report, columns 587–89, that the Regional Assemblies Bill would not be introduced in this session of Parliament.

Regional Government

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the total cost was of the activities performed by the Electoral Commission in connection with (a) the regional referendum in the North East and (b) preparation for the referendums in the North West and Yorkshire and the Humber.

Nick Raynsford: Questions on the Electoral Commission's expenditure should be directed to the Commission itself.

South West Regional Spatial Strategy

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the cost was of producing and publishing, "What will the South West be like in 2026? Regional spatial strategy for the South West 2006–2026", issued by the South West Regional Assembly.

Nick Raynsford: The consultation document on the Regional Spatial Strategy was produced as a result of South West Regional Assembly's role as the designated regional planning body.
	The document starts the consultation process for the statutory Regional Spatial Strategy which will set the framework for development in the South West between 2006 and 2026 and supersede County Structure Plans.
	The total cost of producing and publishing the Regional Spatial Strategy Options consultation documents was in the order of £12,000. This comprises £4,300 for producing the executive summary, £4,700 for producing the technical document, and £3,000 for distribution.

Street Cleanliness

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what steps his Department is taking to promote business-community partnerships to tackle graffiti, litter and street cleanliness.

Nick Raynsford: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given on 1 December 2004, Official Report, column 124W.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has put in place the necessary legislation to enable businesses to vote to improve their trading environments by becoming business improvement districts (BIDs). The additional services or activities that would be funded by a BID levy will be decided by local businesses.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will also publish guidance to the BIDs regulations in spring 2005, which will incorporate the good practice and lessons learnt from the 22 pilot BIDs in the Association of Town Centre Management's National BIDs Pilot project.

HEALTH

Bassetlaw Primary Care Trust

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much Bassetlaw Primary Care Trust has received in each year of its existence.

Melanie Johnson: The information requested is shown in the table.
	
		Allocation for Bassetlaw primary care trust
		
			   Increase in real terms Increase in cash terms 
			  £ million Percentage Percentage 
		
		
			 2002–03 80.4 6.0 8.6 
			 2003–04 87.9 6.9 9.3 
			 2004–05 96.7 7.4 10.1 
			 2005–06 107.7 8.6 11.3 
		
	
	Source:
	Department of Health 2003–04 to 2005–06 primary care trust revenue resource limits exposition book

Carers

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the varying provision which local authorities make for assisting carers.

Stephen Ladyman: It would be short sighted of councils not to support their carers. Councils should be taking the needs of carers into account when planning and commissioning all services. To encourage councils to improve carers' services further we are in discussion with Social Care Institute of Excellence to develop a good practice area on the Department's carers website. We anticipate that it will serve as a benchmark for councils.
	We have introduced a new carers' performance indicator, which will ensure that councils recognise that support for carers continues to be a priority for the Government.

Chernobyl

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will examine the research report by Martin Tondall and his colleagues, published in the British Medical Journal in November, on cancer incidence and the Chernobyl accident.

Melanie Johnson: Departmental officials and National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB) colleagues are aware of the report published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health by M. Tondall et al. The NRPB continues to monitor research in this area.

Child Health

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action he is proposing to control (a) obesity among and (b) alcohol consumption by children; and if he will make a statement.

Melanie Johnson: The foundation for all future work to tackle childhood obesity will be taken forward through the recently published Government White Paper, "Choosing Health: making healthy choices easier", tackling the risk factors of diet and physical inactivity. The Government will publish a delivery plan for the White Paper next year. As part of this delivery programme, we will also publish national delivery plans focusing on nutrition and activity, including the food and health action plan and the physical activity plan.
	The Government has also introduced a new public service agreement target, jointly owned by the Department for Health, Department for Education and Skills and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, to halt "the year-on-year rise in obesity among children under 11 by 2010 in the context of a broader strategy to tackle obesity in the population as a whole".
	Regarding alcohol consumption by children, a social responsibility code is being developed with industry that will provide a code of best practice around manufacturing and sale of alcohol. One of its elements is to stop the sale of alcohol to children. The Department for Education and Skills, in consultation with the Department of Health and the Home Office, will use the findings of the blueprint research programme to ensure that future provision of alcohol education in schools addresses attitudes and behaviour as well as providing information.

Childhood Asthma

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children were diagnosed with asthma in (a) England, (b) Gloucestershire and (c) Stroud constituency in (i) 1974, (ii) 1980, (iii) 1990, (iv) 2000 and (v) the latest year for which figures are available.

Stephen Ladyman: The information requested is not available.
	The new primary medical care contracting arrangements from April 2004 include the use of indicators and information management across specific chronic disease areas, including asthma, to deliver improved outcomes for patients. In time, we expect that this data will provide an invaluable source of information on the disease areas covered.

Eye Tests (Lancashire)

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many free eye tests for pensioners there have been in Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale in each year since 2000.

Melanie Johnson: Figures for the number of sight tests by constituency or by pensioners are not collected centrally.
	The table shows the number of national health service sight tests paid by East Lancashire health authority (HA) for the years ending 31 March 2000 to 2003 and the three primary care trusts (PCTs) covering the old East Lancashire HA for the year ending 31 March 2004.
	
		General ophthalmic services: number of sight tests paid by East Lancashire HA for patients aged 60 and over for the years ending 31 March 2000 to 2004
		
			  HA name-PCT name Number of sight tests for aged 60 and over (000) 
		
		
			 1999–2000 East Lancashire HA 24.5 
			 2000–01 East Lancashire HA 39.8 
			 2001–02 East Lancashire HA 40.8 
			 2002–03 East Lancashire HA 43.6 
			 2003–04 Blackburn with Darwen PCT 13.3 
			  Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale PCT 19.9 
			  Hyndburn and Ribble Valley PCT 10.8 
			 Total East Lancashire HA 44.0 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Eligibility for NHS sight tests was extended to patients aged 60 and over from 1 April 1999. PCTs took over responsibilities from HAs in October 2002.
	2. Sight tests can not be equated to the numbers of patients. Although most people do not come back for a sight test within the year, some patients suffering from medical conditions are advised to have re-examinations sooner. However, some patients aged 60 and over will be eligible for sight tests for other reasons as well, for example, on income grounds. The classification for such patients will depend on the patient and the practitioner.

Fitness Trainers (NHS)

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether those who pay membership of private health clubs will qualify for a fitness trainer on the national health service.

Melanie Johnson: The service to be provided by accredited national health service health trainers will be available to all NHS users in England and will provide advice, motivation and practical support for people to define the changes in lifestyle they want to make, what they can do and how they can access other help and services in making and sustaining changes.

Five a Day Logo

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which (a) organisations and (b) products have adopted the Department of Health's 5 A DAY logo.

Melanie Johnson: The 5 A DAY logo was launched in March 2003. To date, over 400 organisations have adopted the logo of which over 100 are commercial organisations, the remainder being national health service trusts, local authorities and not-for-profit bodies. 65 of these organisations have been granted a licence to use the 5 A DAY logo on product packaging; and between them feature the logo on over 700 products.
	Well-known organisations and brands using the 5 A DAY logo include Asda, Co-op, Iceland and Aldi supermarkets, Costcutter, Nisa-Today's and T & S convenience stores, Boots' Shapers range, Tropicana fruit juice, Julian Graves health food stores, Whitworth's and Sundora dried fruit, McDonald's fruit bags, and Sodexho, Compass and Avenance caterers.

Food Poverty

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions he has had on tackling food poverty.

Melanie Johnson: holding answer 2 December 2004
	The consultation process for the "Choosing Health" White Paper involved discussions between departmental Ministers and a number of stakeholders, both within and outside Government, on diet and nutrition issues, including the issue of inequalities in access to a healthy diet.
	"Choosing Health" has set out a range of measures for improving diet and nutrition, with an emphasis on engaging with disadvantaged communities.
	Planning for the implementation of this and a number of other initiatives announced will be covered in a delivery plan for the White Paper and the food and health action plan, to be published early in 2005.

Food Supplements

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, 
	(1)  when Ministers last met representatives of Consumers for Health Choice to discuss strategies for achieving the addition to the lists of permitted ingredients set out in the Annexes of the Food Supplements Directive of ingredients on the United Kingdom market that are omitted from those lists; and what progress has been made in securing the addition of such ingredients to the lists;
	(2)  what advice his Department plans to give to enforcement authorities on the bringing of prosecutions against the manufacturers and retailers of safe food supplements which contain ingredients that become illegal under the Food Supplements (England) Regulations after July 2005;
	(3)  how many products he estimates will be affected by the implementation of the Food Supplements Directive and the Food Supplements (England) Regulations 2003; and what assessment he has made of the impact of the removal of food supplements by this implementation on (a) the businesses of the manufacturers and retailers of such products and (b) consumer choice.

Melanie Johnson: I met with Consumers for Health Choice on 7 September 2004 to discuss the implications of the Food Supplements Directive (FSD).
	Since that meeting the Health Food Manufacturers Association and Food Standards Agency (FSA) officials have met with officials from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Commission to discuss the implications of the FSD. It was made clear at those meetings that before further ingredients may be added to the lists in the FSD they must be assessed for safety through submission of a dossier and have received a positive opinion from the EFSA.
	The United Kingdom Government has nevertheless made clear that providing an ingredient was on the market before July 2002 and a dossier has been submitted to a member state that ingredient can remain on sale in the UK pending an opinion by EFSA following its safety evaluation.
	The FSA will advise enforcement authorities of those vitamins and minerals, and their permitted sources, listed in the regulations and products where derogation has been provided by the UK following submission of a dossier to a member state and where the product was on sale before July 2002. Such vitamins and minerals will be able to be sold legally in the UK after 1 August 2005 pending an opinion from the EFSA. Enforcement of the Regulation and decisions regarding prosecutions is a matter for the Authorities.
	A regulatory impact assessment was carried out on the FSD and before the Food Supplements (England) Regulations 2003 were signed and laid in Parliament. This assessed the impact of the Directive on businesses and consumer choice.
	The Directive and Regulation list 28 vitamins and minerals and 112 sources from which they may be derived for use in food supplements. The UK will allow additional ingredients to continue to be used as food supplements after 1 August 2005 providing they were on sale before July 2002 and a dossier containing safety data has been submitted to a member state by 12 July 2005.

Free Personal Care

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  if he will estimate the number of people in England who receive free personal care;
	(2)  if he will estimate the total cost for the Government to provide free personal care in England for those people whose income levels mean they are currently eligible for this care.

Stephen Ladyman: No information is held centrally on the numbers of people who receive personal care services but do not make a contribution towards the cost of those services.

Greater Manchester Surgical Centre

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  on what date he expects the Greater Manchester Surgical Centre to open;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the impact on hospitals in Greater Manchester of the Greater Manchester surgical centre.

Melanie Johnson: The Greater Manchester strategic health authority reports that the Greater Manchester surgical centre will see its first patients for pre-operative assessment in January 2005, with treatment beginning in February. The centre expects to treat 44,800 patients over the next five years.
	The centre will provide additional capacity, which will help other hospitals in the area to improve their waiting lists and waiting times.

Health Services (Lewisham, Deptford)

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) doctors and (b) nurses were employed by the NHS in health facilities in the Lewisham, Deptford constituency in (i) 1997, (ii) 2001 and (iii) 2004.

Stephen Ladyman: The information is not available in the format requested. Information for Lewisham hospital NHS trust and Lewisham primary care trust is shown in the following table for the years 1997, 2001 and 2003, which is the latest year available.
	
		Hospital, public health medicine and community health services (HCHS) doctors, general medical practitioners (excluding retainers), nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff and GP practice nurses for specified organisations
		
			   1997 
			Of which:  Of which: 
			   All doctors HCHS doctors(35) General Medical Practitioners (excluding retainers)(36) Nurses Nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff GP practice nurses 
		
		
			 QO7 South East London 3,663 2,795 868 10,845 10,338 507 
			  Of which:   
			 RJ2 Lewisham hospital NHS Trust (37)— 202 (37)— (37)— 848 (37)— 
			 5LF Lewisham PCT (37)— (38)— (37)— (37)— (38)— (37)— 
		
	
	
		2001
		
			Of which:  Of which: 
			   All doctors HCHS doctors(35) General Medical Practitioners (excluding retainers)(36) Nurses Nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff GP practice nurses 
		
		
			 QO7 South East London 4,279 3,375 904 12,122 11,533 589 
			  Of which:   
			 RJ2 Lewisham hospital NHS Trust 269 269 (38)— 906 906 (38)— 
			 5LF Lewisham PCT 159 (38)— 159 93 (38)— 93 
		
	
	
		2003
		
			Of which:  Of which: 
			   All doctors HCHS doctors(35) General Medical Practitioners (excluding retainers)(36) Nurses Nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff GP practice nurses 
		
		
			 QO7 South East London 4,514 3,535 979 14,440 13,930 510 
			  Of which:   
			 RJ2 Lewisham hospital NHS Trust 279 279 (38)— 1,085 1,085 (38)— 
			 5LF Lewisham PCT 176 10 166 448 355 93 
		
	
	(35) Excludes hospital medical hospital practitioners and hospital medical clinical assistants, most of whom are GPs working part-time in hospitals.
	(36) All practitioners (excluding retainers) includes GMS practitioners, PMS practitioners, GP registrars.
	3 Denotes not available.
	(37) Denotes zero.
	Notes:
	1. GP retainers were first collected in 1999 and have been omitted for comparability purposes.
	2. PCTs did not come into existence until 1 April 2000, prior to this data was only available at health authority level which does not compare with present day organisational structure.
	3. Data as at 30 September each year except GP and practice nurse data as at 1 October 1997.
	Sources:
	1. Department of Health General and Personal Medical Services Statistics
	2. Department of Health Medical and Dental Workforce Statistics
	3. Department of Health Non-Medical Workforce Census

Health White Paper

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the percentage of pubs in the (a) Northern region and (b) Tees Valley area which serve food which will cease to do so when the smoking ban is implemented.

Melanie Johnson: In the White Paper we estimated that 10 to 30 per cent. of pubs in England might fall into the category of "do not prepare food". A regional breakdown of this figure has not been made. We believe that with food providing an increasing proportion of most pubs' turnovers, it is reasonable for the Government to proceed on the assumption that it makes good business sense for pub owners to continue to serve food. We will consult widely on this area in drawing up the detailed legislation.

Health White Paper

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research he has commissioned on the introduction of a food signposting system as described in the White Paper, Choosing Health, Cm 6374, paragraph 26; and when he expects this research will be completed.

Melanie Johnson: On Thursday 25 November the Food Standards Agency published research showing that consumers would strongly support a front of pack signposting scheme to make informed and healthier food choices easier. The research tested five signposting options, two of which consumers felt had significantly more promise than the others. The Agency will now work with stakeholders to examine a number of these options in more detail to identify which is most likely to be helpful in practice.

Health White Paper

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects the competency framework for NHS professionals outlined in Choosing Health, Cm 6374, paragraph 16, to become part of the training programme; whether it will include all NHS staff; and if he will make a statement.

Melanie Johnson: The implementation of this and a number of other initiatives announced will be covered in a delivery plan for the White Paper to be published early in 2005.

Health White Paper

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the evidential basis is for the statement in the White Paper, Choosing Health, Cm 6374, paragraph 77, that profitability of providing food will outweigh any incentive for pub owners to stop serving food in order to exclude their premises from a ban on smoking.

Melanie Johnson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, South and Cleveland, East (Dr. Kumar) today.

Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many copies of the Annual Report of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) were printed; and how many (a) hits and (b) unique visits were made to the annual report pages on the HFEA website in the four days following its publication.

Melanie Johnson: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has advised that 1,500 copies of its 2003–04 annual report were printed. The report appeared on the HFEA's website on the afternoon of 25 November. During the following four days, 26 to 29 November, a total of 513 hits were made on the website to view the report. Data is not available on the number of unique visitors. Copies of the report are available in the Library.

Jobs Website

Richard Allan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the companies which submitted bids to his Department to develop and run the jobs.nhs.uk website project.

John Hutton: The companies which submitted bids were:
	Guardian Media Group
	Parity Group PLC
	Northgate Information Systems
	Methods Application Ltd.

Jobs Website

Richard Allan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what charges have been paid by NHS organisations for the use of the jobs.nhs.uk website to date; and how much he expects to be receiving from NHS organisations for use of the website in (a) 2005–06 and (b) 2006–07.

John Hutton: The Department has not made any charges and does not expect to do so. We are providing this as a central service to the national health service. Responsibility for managing the service will move to the NHS employers' organisation from April 2005.

Mental Health

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many young people are waiting to access Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, broken down by region; what the average waiting time to access Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services is; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Ladyman: The information requested is shown in the table. This information is taken from the Department's 2003 child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS) mapping exercise.
	Information on average waiting times for patients to see CAMHS staff is not collected centrally.
	The Government are committed to improve access to CAMHS and to reduce waiting times. The Department is investing an additional £300 million into CAMHS during the period from 2003–04 to 2005–06. The recently published children's national service framework sets out the standard for CAMH services.
	
		CAMHS—cases waiting and length of wait as at December 2003
		
			 Region 0–13 weeks 14–26 weeks Over 26 weeks Total 
		
		
			 London 3,465 895 581 4,941 
			 South East 3,004 1,080 1,434 5,518 
			 South West 1,550 813 704 3,067 
			 East 1,905 695 263 2,863 
			 West Midlands 1,946 957 889 3,792 
			 East Midlands 1,381 426 462 2,269 
			 Yorkshire and Humber 1,765 633 569 2,967 
			 North West 2,397 801 781 3,979 
			 North East 859 275 153 1,287 
			 Total 18,272 6,575 5,836 30,683 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. CAMHS are defined for the purposes of this table, means specialist CAMHS or, as often referred to, Tiers 2 to 4 CAMHS. The numbers include referrals from all sources, including general practitioners, social services and education.
	2. Length of wait is the period from the date that the patient is referred to CAMHS to the date that the patient is first seen by CAMHS for an initial assessment.

Mental Health Services (Buckinghamshire)

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether Wycombe Primary Care Trust has recently withdrawn funding from Wycombe Mind.

Rosie Winterton: In accordance with our policy of "Shifting the balance of Power", primary care trusts (PCTs) are responsible for commissioning care to get the best services for local people, subject to the highest clinical standards and best value for money. It is for each PCT to decide what money it allocates to each particular strand of their local health service according to its assessment of local need.
	I therefore suggest that the hon. Member liaises directly with his local PCT on this matter.

Mental Health Services (Buckinghamshire)

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  whether Buckinghamshire Mental Health Trust and Wycombe Primary Care Trust has recorded changes made to the provision of services by charities and voluntary groups to people with mental health problems in south Buckinghamshire;
	(2)  what representation Buckinghamshire Mental Health Trust and Wycombe Primary Care Trust has received about the recent closure of the Fixiquip programme.

Rosie Winterton: In line with our policy of "Shifting the Balance of Power", it is now for primary care trusts (PCTs), in partnership with strategic health authorities and other local stakeholders to plan, develop and improve services for local people. We recognise that health services are better when management is devolved to the frontline. Within the framework set out in the "NHS Plan" and other policy documents, PCTs, with their specialised knowledge of the local community are effectively able to manage and improve local services.
	I therefore suggest that the hon. Member liaises directly with the local national health service on this matter.

NHS Cleaners

Judy Mallaber: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cleaners, as distinct from other ancillary staff, were employed by the NHS immediately prior to the introduction of market testing for these services in 1983.

John Hutton: Data on the number of cleaners employed by the national health service in 1983 is not held centrally.

Ozone

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what evidence he has gathered to support a connection between levels of ozone in the atmosphere and premature deaths; and if he will make a statement.

Melanie Johnson: The Department's Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants (COMEAP) 1 summarised the evidence on the connection between levels of ozone in the atmosphere and premature deaths in 1998. It was concluded that an association existed and was reasonably consistent across Europe and the United States. Further research has been published since that time, including, very recently, two large studies combining results from groups of European cities and groups of US cities. An updated review of the health effects of ozone, under preparation by COMEAP, will address this new evidence and will be published next year.
	1 Department of Health Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants Quantification of the Effects of Air Pollutants in the United Kingdom—The Stationery Office London 1998.
	The Department has also commissioned research in the United Kingdom on this issue. Details are included in the list of Department's funded air pollution research projects at the website address given below and a copy has been placed in the Library 2 .
	2 www.dh.gov.uk/PolicyAndGuidance/HealthAndSocialCareTopics/AirPollution/fs/en.

Peninsula Medical School

Linda Gilroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what funding has been made available to establish the Peninsula Medical School.

John Hutton: The Department's funding for medical schools takes the form of the Service Increment for Teaching (SIFT). This reimburses national health service organisations for the extra costs they incur by providing clinical placements for medical and dental undergraduates. SIFT funding for the Peninsula Medical School is shown in the table. Investment by the Higher Education Funding Council for England is a matter for my hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Department for Education and Skills.
	
		
			  SIFT (£000) 
		
		
			 Capital  
			 2000–01 483 
			 2001–02 2,046 
			 2002–03 4,994 
			 2003–04 12,286 
			 2004–05 742 
			   
			 Revenue  
			 2000–01 0 
			 2001–02 325 
			 2002–03 2,963 
			 2003–04 6,518 
			 2004–05 11,830 
		
	
	Between 2001 and 2003, £2 million was allocated non-recurrently from the NHS research and development budget to the local NHS partners of the Peninsula Medical School to invest in facilities for research associated with the school, and in 2002–03 £146,250 was allocated recurrently to mobilise and support research in the school.

Primary Care Trusts

John Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list primary care trusts which have taken over management of local social services.

Stephen Ladyman: Care trusts are established on a voluntary basis where there is a joint agreement at a local level that this model will offer the best way to deliver better health and social care services. Partner organisations then delegate agreed functions to the care trust, but can withdraw if they so choose.
	To date, eight such partnerships have been forged, leading to the establishment of care trusts in Sandwell; Sheffield, Bexley, Bradford, Camden and Islington; Manchester, Northumberland; and in Witham, Braintree and Halstead. The local primary care trusts are partners in two of these agreements: in Bexley, and in Witham, Braintree and Halstead.

Primary Care Trusts

Richard Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the budgets for this financial year are for the five primary care trusts in Suffolk; and what budget has been set for managerial and administrative costs of each.

Stephen Ladyman: The allocations for the five primary care trusts (PCTs) in Suffolk are shown in the table.
	
		
			 PCT Amount (£ million) 
		
		
			 Ipswich 137.5 
			 Waveney 123.6 
			 Suffolk Coastal 88.0 
			 Suffolk West 195.0 
			 Central Suffolk 80.2 
		
	
	As PCTs now have responsibility for planning the provision for health care services locally, they also have responsibility for deciding what part of their budgets are allocated to management and administrative costs.

Psychiatric Wards (Young People)

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps he is taking to ensure safeguards are in place to protect young people held on adult psychiatric wards;
	(2)  how many cases of assault have occurred against young people held in adult psychiatric wards in each year since 1997.

Stephen Ladyman: The children's national service framework (NSF) sets a standard that:
	"services ensure that attention is paid to child protection needs (in line with Area Child Protection Committee policies) and the dignity and safety of young people cared for in adult psychiatric beds".
	The NSF also recommended that a protocol must be agreed between the child and adolescent mental health service and the adult service that will safeguard the young person's safety and dignity.
	In February 2004, we published Developing Positive Practice to Support the Safe and Therapeutic Management of Aggression and Violence in Mental Health Inpatient Settings to enable mental health service providers to review their current policies and procedures relating to education, training and practice in the safe and therapeutic management of aggression and violence.
	The National Patient Safety Agency has also identified patient safety in acute mental health settings as a priority and launched its mental health programme of work in June 2004.

Strategic Health Authorities

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the most recently estimated 2004–05 year-end financial position is for each strategic health authority as forecast (a) by each strategic health authority itself and (b) as a total of all of the forecasts of each strategic health authority's component health trusts.

John Hutton: The audited information in respect of the 2004–05 financial position of all strategic health authorities, primary care trusts and national health service trusts will be published in their individual annual accounts and will be available centrally in autumn 2005. We have no plans to publish un-audited in year financial information. This information is considered to be exempt under Part 2 of the code of practice on access to Government information.

Tuberculosis/Hepatitis

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of the population of England he estimates to be undiagnosed for (a) tuberculosis and (b) hepatitis C.

Melanie Johnson: It is not possible to generate reliable estimates on numbers of undiagnosed active tuberculosis cases in England. Most undiagnosed cases present to the health service at some point during their illness. Delays to diagnosis will result in either recovery, eventual presentation to health services with advanced disease or death.
	The number of active tuberculosis cases who recover is unknown and numbers of cases who present with advanced disease are not routinely collected. The number of cases of tuberculosis diagnosed on post-mortem is collected by the Health Protection Agency's (HPA) enhanced tuberculosis surveillance system. This data represents the number of tuberculosis cases per annum who are found to have tuberculosis at post mortem. Tuberculosis is however not necessarily the cause of death or a contributory factor to death. In a large proportion of these cases, tuberculosis is likely to be an incidental finding.
	The number of cumulative hepatitis C laboratory diagnoses reported, 38,000, to the HPA is lower than the estimate for the overall population prevalence. This suggests that the majority of hepatitis C infections have not been diagnosed. The estimate of the number of individuals infected with hepatitis C is 250,000, but the figure for those who have gone on to develop chronic hepatitis C infection in England is 200,000, as in some cases the infection clears spontaneously.

Tuberculosis/Hepatitis

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health in how many cases hepatitis C was recognised as an underlying cause of death in the latest year for which figures are available; and what his assessment is of the contribution of hepatitis C to mortality from chronic liver disease.

Melanie Johnson: Hepatitis C was the underlying cause for 129 deaths in England and Wales in 2003. Hepatitis C is believed to contribute to some of the deaths each year from the complications of chronic liver disease, including cirrhosis and primary cancer. However, there are no routine data on the extent of this contribution.
	Source:
	Office for National Statistics

Vending Machines

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance his Department gives to (a) hospitals and (b) NHS trusts installing vending machines in hospitals on the type of products which should be sold; and if he will make a statement.

Melanie Johnson: The Department has issued no guidance to the national health service regarding the types of products, which should be available in public areas. Public procurement of food through the NHS offers an opportunity to demonstrate best practice in influencing access to healthier foods. We have made a commitment in the Government's White Paper, "Choosing Health: Making health choices easier" to develop nutritional standards for all foods provided by the NHS, increasing access to a range of healthier foods and taking account of the different formats of provision including restaurant, fast food and vending. Planning for the implementation of this and a number of other initiatives are under way and more details will be announced early in 2005 when the Government will publish its Delivery Plan for the White Paper.

Walnuttree Hospital (Risk Assessments)

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will place in the Library the two most recent Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service risk assessments of Walnuttree hospital in Sudbury.

Stephen Ladyman: I regret that Suffolk fire and rescue services have not undertaken any risk assessments at Walnuttree hospital in Sudbury. West Suffolk hospital undertook a fire risk assessment in 2003 and I understand that copies are available from the trust.
	The trust recently commissioned an independent review of Walnuttree hospital at the end of October 2004. The independent review was carried out by Auditing Investigating Management Services. The report was published on 18 November 2004 and copies can be obtained from West Suffolk hospital.
	West Suffolk Hospitals National Health Service Trust met with the Suffolk divisional fire officer to agree a way forward following the recommendations made in the independent report. Suffolk fire service stated
	"they would need more time to consider the findings of the independent report. However, the service's recommendations would be aimed at ensuring that fire safety measures at Walnuttree hospital were robust enough to provide a satisfactory level of fire safety until December 2007, the expected date of the opening of the new building".

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Criminal Justice Act

Mark Oaten: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what assessment he has made of the impact of the implementation of Section 329 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003.

David Lammy: Section 329 relates to civil proceedings for trespass to the person brought by offenders, and was introduced on 20 January 2004. Figures relating to any subsequent proceedings affected by this section are not available. However, the Government are unaware of any such cases having been reported.

Legal Aid/Services

Ross Cranston: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what estimate he has made of the administrative savings which would arise for those receiving legal aid no longer being required to pay court fees.

Christopher Leslie: My Department is currently seeking to rationalise the arrangements for the payment of court fees in proceedings where the claimant/applicant is legally aided. Revised procedures have yet to be developed and it is therefore impossible to quantify the administration savings at present.

Legal Aid/Services

Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs when a Government report on the conclusions of Sir David Clementi's current review of the regulatory framework of legal services is expected.

David Lammy: Sir David Clementi is due to make his recommendations by 31 December 2004. The Government will set out our plans for responding to those recommendations after the report is published.

Legal Aid/Services

Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what budget has been allocated to the Office of the Legal Services Complaints Commissioner in each of the last two years; and how many staff have been employed by the Office in each year.

David Lammy: The Legal Services Complaints Commissioner was appointed on 21 February 2004. The budget for the Commissioner's office for 2004–05 is £1.34 million. 12 staff are currently employed including the Commissioner. This could rise to 16 staff pending successful recruitment campaigns. At the Secretary of State's request, the Law Society will meet all appropriate costs of the OLSCC. It has been agreed that DCA will meet the costs of: the consultants who scoped the work of the OLSCC; DCA corporate overheads; and the LSCC's salary.

LINK Project

Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs 
	(1)  what progress has been made with the LINK project since it started;
	(2)  if he will make a statement on the Department's progress towards meeting each of its targets under the three-year LINK project;
	(3)  how many courts are linked as a result of the LINK project;
	(4)  how much (a) has been spent to date on implementing the targets set under the LINK project and (b) will need to be spent to complete the LINK project;
	(5)  whether the Department is on course to meet its target of rolling out the Criminal and Civil LINK infrastructures to (a) Crown courts and (b) civil and family courts by March 2006.

Christopher Leslie: There are two LINK projects, one covering criminal business, and one covering civil business. As at 30 November 2004, on the criminal court side, 73 courts had received the new infrastructure. The target to deliver to 56 courts by the end of 2003–04 was achieved, and the project is on schedule to achieve its final objective of 110 sites in total. As at 30 November 2004, £116.61 million had been spent on the project. A further £57.04 million will be required to complete the rollout.
	As at 30 November 2004, on the civil court side, 26 courts had received the new infrastructure. The target to deliver to four courts by the end 2003–04 was exceeded (nine courts were live by the end of 2003–04), and the project is on schedule to achieve its final objective of 60 sites in total. As at the 30 November 2004, £9.23 million had been spent on the project. A further £11.95 million will be required to complete the rollout.

LINK Project

Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many witnesses have provided evidence by video link from suites in courts for vulnerable and intimidated witnesses introduced under the LINK scheme since the introduction of such suites; and if he will make a statement.

Christopher Leslie: The LINK Infrastructure Project has been set up to deliver a comprehensive IT infrastructure to court staff and the Judiciary in the Crown court. It does not directly provide video link equipment in courts although it does enable these links where equipment is provided. 89 per cent. of Crown court centres now have some form of video link. Records are not being kept centrally of how many witnesses have used the video links since they were introduced for vulnerable and intimidated witnesses.

Magistrates Courts

Hywel Williams: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many people work for the magistrates' courts services (a) in Wales and (b) in England, broken down by workplace.

Christopher Leslie: On 31 March 2004, the date of the most recent data collection, the Magistrates' Courts Service employed 11,156 people in England and 755 in Wales.

Magistrates Courts

Bob Spink: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many appeals against closure of magistrates' courts there were in each of the last three years.

Christopher Leslie: The number of appeals made by paying authorities pursuant to section 56 (3) of the Justice of the Peace Act 1997 against the closure of magistrates' courts over the last three years is as follows.
	In 2002 there were two appeals lodged;
	In 2003 there were 15 appeals lodged; and
	In 2004 five appeals have been lodged so far.

Money Claim Online Scheme

Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many claims have been issued online in each year since the introduction of the Money Claim Online scheme.

David Lammy: Since its launch in February 2002, the number of claims issued each year through Money Claim Online was:
	
		Claims
		
			  
		
		
			 2002 14,446 
			 2003 34,137 
			 2004(38) 47,916 
		
	
	(38) (Up to and including November)

Money Claim Online Scheme

Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how much the Money Claim Online scheme has cost the Department to run in each calendar year since its introduction.

David Lammy: The cost to the Department of running Money Claim Online software systems in the first quarter to March 2002 was £221,286; in 2002–03 the cost was £885,144 and for the period April 2003 to September 2004 the cost was £442,572.

Money Claim Online Scheme

Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what plans the Department has to increase the amount for which fixed claims can be made by means of the Money Claim Online scheme.

David Lammy: My Department currently has no plans to increase the limit on the value of claims which can be made using Money Claim Online. This reflects present indications that only a small proportion of claims issued online are of a value close to the £100,000 limit.

Office of Public Guardianship

Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs 
	(1)  how many staff have been employed by the Office of Public Guardianship in each of the last two years;
	(2)  what budget has been allocated to the Office of the Public Guardianship in each of the last two years; and how many staff have been employed by the Office in each year.

David Lammy: The budget allocated to the Public Guardianship Office for the current financial year is made up of net administration costs of £17,540,000 and a capital budget of £1,500,000. These costs are offset against a projected net fee income of £13,960,000. In 2003–04 the Public Guardianship Office employed an average of 304 whole-time equivalent permanent civil servants, 116 agency staff and nine contract staff. In 2002–03 the Public Guardianship Office employed an average of 295 whole-time equivalent permanent staff, 159 agency staff and 14 contract staff. Full details of the Public Guardianship's financial position and staffing numbers are included in the Annual Reports and Accounts which were laid before Parliament on 26 October.

Parliamentary Questions

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many written questions for the Department were unanswered when Parliament prorogued; and how many of the unanswered questions were tabled in each of the previous months of the 2003–04 Session.

Christopher Leslie: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Ribble Valley (Mr. Evans) on 29 November 2004, Official Report, column 29W.

Property Prices

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many properties in (a) Nelson and (b) Colne have sold for less that £20,000 in each year since 1997.

Keith Hill: I have been asked to reply.
	Separate figures below local authority level are not readily available. However, since Nelson and Colne are both within Pendle district council, the annual sales figures for the whole of Pendle from 1997 to 2003 were as follows.
	
		
			  Number of residential property sales within Pendle district council at less than £20,000 
		
		
			 1997 341 
			 1998 452 
			 1999 443 
			 2000 473 
			 2001 522 
			 2002 679 
			 2003 484 
		
	
	Note:
	The figures exclude sales to sitting tenants and any other sales believed to be below market value.
	Source:
	Land Registry

Small Claims

Ross Cranston: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what plans he has to extend the small claims jurisdiction; and if he will make a statement.

David Lammy: The Better Regulation Task Force in its report, 'Better Routes to Redress' recommended that research should be carried out into the potential impact of raising the small claims limit for personal injury cases from the current limit of £1,000. In its response to the report, published on 10 November, the Government indicated its acceptance of this recommendation. The Government also indicated that it intended to review all the financial limits that define the small claims and fast tracks, and to also consider other options in addition to raising the small claims limit for personal injury.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Benefit Call Centres

Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  whether benefits claimants who attend at Jobcentre Plus offices must claim benefits by telephoning a call centre elsewhere;
	(2)  whether benefits call centre staff are able to make decisions about eligibility for benefit.

Jane Kennedy: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive, David Anderson. He will write to the hon. Member.
	Letter from David Anderson to Vera Baird, dated 6 December 2004
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your questions concerning whether benefits claimants who attend at Jobcentre Plus offices must claim benefits by telephoning a Call Centre elsewhere, and whether benefit Call Centre staff are able to make decisions about eligibility for benefit. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
	We are establishing a number of contact centres that allow customers the flexibility of using many of the services Jobcentre Plus provides without the need to travel to local offices. In areas where this new process has already commenced, customers are asked to telephone the relevant Contact Centre to make their initial claim to benefit. If a customer has already travelled to the Jobcentre Plus office, they can use a 'warm phone' in that office to make the call. In exceptional circumstances, customers may have a face-to-face interview.
	Contact Centre officers do not make decisions regarding eligibility to benefits. They collect information for benefits to which customers have potential eligibility. This information is forwarded to Decision Makers for decisions on entitlement to benefits.
	I hope this is helpful.

Benefit Fraud

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many local authority benefit fraud investigators have (a) commenced and (b) completed the Professionalism in Security Accredited Counter Fraud Officer Scheme.

Chris Pond: Up until April 2004, 283 local authority benefit fraud investigators had commenced but not completed the Professionalism in Security (PINS) training scheme and 1,826 had completed it.

Benefit Fraud

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many local authority benefit fraud investigators there were in each year since 1997.

Chris Pond: The overall aim of the Department's anti-fraud strategy is to have a benefit system which is secure from first claim to final payment. The implementation of this strategy means than an anti-fraud focus is integral to the work of all staff working in the administration of housing benefit, as is dealing with the wider agenda of error and incorrectness in benefit payments.
	The number of full-time equivalent fraud investigators is in the table.
	
		Number of full-time or equivalent benefit fraud investigators employed by local authorities
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 1996–97 1,900 
			 1997–98 2,000 
			 1998–99 2,200 
			 1999–2000 2,100 
			 2000–01 2,200 
			 2001–02 1,700 
			 2002–03 1,900 
			 2003–04 1,400 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. The figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred.
	2. Figures for any non-responding authorities have been estimated.
	Source:
	Housing Benefit Management Information System Quarterly Administration Returns April 1996 to March 2004.

Benefit Fraud

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, on how many occasions the new powers to obtain information from third party organisations established under the Social Security (Fraud) Act 2001 have been used.

Chris Pond: The Social Security Fraud Act 2001 introduced powers that required the private sector, and some public sector bodies, to give authorised DWP and local authority officers information on their customers where it relates to suspicions of fraud against the benefit system.
	From April 2003 until September 2004 there have been 36,181 occasions when we have asked third party organisations to provide information using powers granted by the Act. Figures are not available before then, as information was not collated centrally.

Bereavement Benefit

Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much has been paid in bereavement benefit in each of the last 10 years.

Chris Pond: The information is in the table.
	
		Annual expenditure on widows and bereavement benefits
		
			  £ million 
		
		
			 1993–94 1,145 
			 1994–95 1,111 
			 1995–96 1,070 
			 1996–97 1,009 
			 1997–98 1,005 
			 1998–99 968 
			 1999–2000 984 
			 2000–01 965 
			 2001–02 1,065 
			 2002–03 984 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures are in real terms 2004–05 prices.
	2. Bereavement benefits replaced Widows benefits on 9 April 2001.
	Source:
	DWP Benefit Expenditure Tables.

Departmental Mobile Phones

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many departmental mobile telephones were used by Ministers, special advisers and officials in his Department in each year since 1997; at what cost; how many such telephones were lost or stolen in each year since 1997; and what the replacement costs were in each case.

Maria Eagle: Information is not available in the format requested.
	Central records of mobile phones were not held until 1 November 2003. At that date, nine were used by Ministers and special advisers, and 11,950 were used by the Department's officials.
	As of November 2004, eight mobile phones were used by Ministers and Special Advisers, and 13,786 used by officials.
	Information on costs, which includes the cost of new phones, contract costs and call charges is available only for the last two quarters. These costs amounted to £409,017 for quarter ending August 2004, and £405,258 for quarter ending November 2004.
	Information on the number and associated costs of mobile phones lost or stolen is not collected.

Disability Benefits

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many people have claimed disability living allowance, broken down (a) by nation and (b) by region, in each year since 2001; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the number of people who are eligible for disability living allowance.

Maria Eagle: Entitlement to disability living allowance (DLA) can only be reliably established after a claim has been made and the care and mobility needs of the individual customer fully assessed. For this reason it is not possible to estimate the number of people who may be entitled. The requested information about DLA claims is not available. The available information is set out in the table.
	
		DLA: Number of initial claims made in Great Britain in each year 2001–02 to 2003–04
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 2001–02 407,810 
			 2002–03 433,345 
			 2003–04 442,150 
		
	
	Note:
	1. Figures taken from a 100 per cent. sample at 31 May 2004 each year and rounded to the nearest five.

Disability Benefits

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people appealed against decisions made regarding the award of (a) incapacity benefit, (b) severe disablement allowance and (c) disability living allowance in each quarter in each year since 2001; how many of these appeals were successful; and if he will make a statement.

Maria Eagle: This is a matter for Christina Townsend, Chief Executive of the Appeals Service. She will write to the hon. Member.
	Letter from Christina Townsend to Mr. Paul Holmes, dated 6 December 2004
	The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has asked me to reply to your question regarding how many people appealed against decisions made regarding the award of (a) incapacity benefit, (b) severe disablement allowance and (c) disability living allowance; how many of these appeals were successful, in each quarter in each year since 2001.
	The information in table 1 give details of claims for incapacity benefit, severe disablement allowance and disability living allowance. Table 2 shows the number of successful appeals made against the rejection of severe disablement allowance and disability living allowance, whilst table 3 shows the figures relating to incapacity benefit.
	
		Table 1: Severe disablement allowance, disability living allowance and incapacity benefit caseloads at November 2001, 2002, 2003
		
			  Caseload 
		
		
			 Disability living allowance  
			 November 2001 2,298.0 
			 November 2002 2,418.5 
			 November 2003 2,549.8 
			 Incapacity benefit claimants  
			 November 2001 2,342.9 
			 November 2002 2,384.2 
			 November 2003 2,409.2 
			 Severe disablement allowance claimants  
			 November 2001 362.3 
			 November 2002 325.9 
			 November 2003 311.3 
		
	
	Benefit Data Notes:
	1. Benefit caseload figures are taken from a 5 per cent. sample 30 November of each year; they are not caseloads for quarters as Appeals.
	2. Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred and are represented in thousands.
	3. Incapacity benefit and severe disablement benefit figures include "credits only" cases.
	Source:
	IAD Information Centre, 5 per cent. sample.
	
		Table 2: Severe disablement allowance, disability living allowance appeals, received at the Appeals Service, cleared at hearing and in favour of appellant, for each quarter since 2001
		
			  Severe disablement allowance Disability living allowance 
			  Received Cleared at hearing Cleared in favour Received Cleared at hearing Cleared in favour 
		
		
			 2001 Q1 650 475 195 25,655 27,940 14,180 
			 2001 Q2 610 415 160 20,295 21,210 11,230 
			 2001 Q3 525 505 220 19,730 18,965 10,000 
			 2001 Q4 405 365 145 21,210 18,170 9,760 
			 2002 Q1 265 325 145 22,190 19,825 10,640 
			 2002 Q2 185 265 120 18,570 18,615 10,160 
			 2002 Q3 190 205 100 20,070 17,575 9,320 
			 2002 Q4 160 150 75 21,445 16,800 9,375 
			 2003 Q1 135 140 70 21,570 18,055 9,745 
			 2003 Q2 140 120 65 18,300 17,715 9,565 
			 2003 Q3 110 120 55 20,765 17,265 9,070 
			 2003 Q4 85 75 30 22,765 16,815 8,470 
			 2004 Q1 80 80 45 22,285 20,000 10,120 
			 2004 Q2 60 65 35 19,585 18,660 9,570 
			 2004 Q3 55 60 35 22,605 18,440 9,340 
		
	
	
		Table 3: Incapacity benefit appeals, received at the Appeals Service, cleared at hearing and infavour of appellant, for each quarter since 2001
		
			  Incapacity benefit (not personal capability assessment) Incapacity benefit (personal capability assessment) 
			  Received Cleared at hearing Cleared in favour Received Cleared at hearing Cleared in favour 
		
		
			 2001 Q1 1,645 955 360 10,670 7,240 2,970 
			 2001 Q2 1,430 1,045 350 8,975 8,060 3,395 
			 2001 Q3 1,505 960 350 9,770 7,255 3,215 
			 2001 Q4 1,565 875 330 11,330 7,430 3,220 
			 2002 Q1 1,760 1,085 380 13,435 8,720 3,650 
			 2002 Q2 1,630 1,105 390 12,020 9,125 4,080 
			 2002 Q3 1,835 1,140 400 12,705 9,575 4,275 
			 2002 Q4 1,785 1,175 455 14,035 9,375 4,520 
			 2003 Q1 1,690 1,225 505 15,420 10,315 5,010 
			 2003 Q2 1,710 1,240 465 12,010 12,040 5,770 
			 2003 Q3 1,710 1,125 450 13,810 9,690 4,675 
			 2003 Q4 1,905 1,040 375 14,860 9,805 4,815 
			 2004 Q1 2,065 1,280 435 14,785 11,275 5,275 
			 2004 Q2 1,750 1,180 450 12,235 10,360 5,110 
			 2004 Q3 1,650 1,160 460 12,840 10,460 5,080 
		
	
	Appeals Data Notes:
	1. All figures are subject to change as more up to date data becomes available.
	2. Figures for the latest months may rise significantly as information feeds through to the Appeals Service.
	3. Figures are rounded to the nearest five.
	4. Figures may not sum due to rounding.
	5. Percentages are to one decimal place and are based on unrounded figures.
	Source:
	IAD Information Centre, 100 per cent. sample

Disability Benefits

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost was of administering the appeals system for (a) incapacity benefit, (b) severe disablement allowance and (c) disability living allowance in each quarter in each year since 2001; and if he will make a statement.

Angela Eagle: This is a matter for Christina Townsend, Chief Executive of the Appeals Service. She will write to the hon. Member.
	Letter from Christina Townsend to Mr. Paul Holmes, dated 6 December 2004
	The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has asked me to respond to your question asking what the cost was of administering the appeals system for (a) incapacity benefit (b) severe disablement allowance and (c) disability living allowance in each quarter in each year since 2001.
	The table below shows the estimated cost for administering incapacity benefit, severe disablement benefit and disability living allowance appeals. We do not hold exact figures for each benefit type, so the amounts quoted are calculated on average administrative and judicial costs, including overheads.
	
		2001–02 -- £
		
			  Q1 Q2 Q3 04 Total 
		
		
			 INCAP 2,025,710 1,828,920 1,848,933 2,178,027 7,881,589 
			 SDA 92,280 113,404 81,162 70,044 356,890 
			 DLA 4,716,279 4,214,855 4,042,525 4,388,296 17,361,955 
			 Total 6,834,268 6,157,179 5,972,619 6,636,367 25,600,434 
		
	
	
		2002–03 -- £
		
			  Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Total 
		
		
			 INCAP 2,362,133 2,503,296 2,478,593 1,929,232 9,273,254 
			 SDA 59,994 45,878 34,114 117,636 257,623 
			 DLA 4,296,070 4,096,089 3,934,928 4,437,234 16,764,321 
			 Total 6,718,198 6,645,263 6,447,635 6,484,102 26,295,198 
		
	
	
		2003–04 -- £
		
			  Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Total 
		
		
			 INCAP 3,222,761 2,626,808 2,633,379 3,047,769 11,529,997 
			 SDA 27,950 29,165 18,228 18,228 93,572 
			 DLA 4,289,723 4,180,353 4,067,338 4,839,002 17,376,416 
			 Total 7,540,434 6,835,607 6,718,946 7,904,999 28,999,985 
		
	
	I hope this reply is helpful.

Disused Petrol Stations

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the number of disused petrol stations which do not meet the requirements of the Public Health Act 1961; how many improvement notices have been issued under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974; and what further steps are planned to deal with the potential detrimental effects to the environment of disused petrol stations.

Jane Kennedy: The local Petroleum Licensing Authority enforces the safety of disused petrol stations. There is no statutory obligation on them to keep records of how many sites do not meet the requirements of the Public Health Act 1961. There is also no statutory obligation on them to keep records on how many improvement notices they have issued under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 in relation to disused petrol stations. As such, it is not possible to provide the statistics requested.
	The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs groundwater protection code on filling stations contains advice on decommissioning underground storage tanks, and the Environment Agency has powers to enforce the code. In general, the agency expects risks to groundwater from decommissioned tanks to be lower than from active tanks since, at worst, only residual fuel would be likely to remain. The Environment Agency's risk-based approach to groundwater protection and improvement will be taken forward under the Water Framework Directive. Local authorities also have duties under Part 11A of the Environmental Protection Act to identify contaminated land and secure remediation which may involve the Environment Agency.

Financial Assistance Scheme

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  if he will make it his policy (a) to pool the remaining assets of pension schemes which fall within the scope of his financial assistance scheme and to (b) instruct such schemes not to purchase annuities with such balances;
	(2)  what the maximum percentage is of lost occupational pension rights that will be replaced by the Financial Assistance Scheme.

Malcolm Wicks: I refer the hon. Member to the written statement I gave on 2 December 2004, Official Report, columns 64–66WS on the Financial Assistance Scheme.

Financial Assistance Scheme

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to ensure that recipients of payments under the financial assistance scheme continue to receive such payments after the initial 20-year funding period has ended.

Malcolm Wicks: The timing of payments and hence the precise funding arrangements will depend on how the financial assistance is delivered. As I said in a written ministerial statement on 2 December 2004, Official Report, columns 64–66WS, options for delivery including a top-up pension, a cash lump sum, or purchase of an annuity at age 65, are still being considered.

Financial Assistance Scheme

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, on how many pension schemes he has so far successfully collected data in connection with his development of a financial assistance scheme; and what percentage this represents of all the schemes for which he is collecting data.

Malcolm Wicks: The current data collection exercise has received information from over 100 pension schemes. The exercise is not due to finish until 10 December 2004, and we expect to receive more information immediately prior to that deadline. The earlier data collection exercise received information from some 250 pension schemes. It is not possible to say what percentage this represents of all the schemes for which we are collecting data, because there is no adequate central source of data with which to identify all schemes potentially eligible for the Financial Assistance Scheme.

Financial Assistance Scheme

Julie Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the full liability of the Financial Assistance Scheme for people whose occupational pension funds have collapsed.

Malcolm Wicks: The Financial Assistance Scheme has no liability in respect of people whose occupational pension funds have collapsed. Through the Financial Assistance Scheme the Government have committed £400 million to provide assistance to members of pension scheme winding up under-funded prior to the introduction of the Pension Protection Fund.

Financial Assistance Scheme

Julie Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate has been made of the level of assistance to be awarded through the financial assistance scheme to each person who has lost their occupational pension funding.

Malcolm Wicks: I refer the hon. Member to the written ministerial statement given on 2 December 2004, Official Report, volume 428, columns 64–6WS .

IBM UK Pension Fund

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will establish an independent inquiry into the handling by the Pensions Ombudsman of the complaint by members of the IBM UK pension fund; and if he will make a statement.

Malcolm Wicks: The Pensions Ombudsman is an independent statutory Commissioner and I cannot comment on his determinations or on actions taken during his investigation of complaints. Copies of his determinations are available on the Pension's Ombudsman's websitewww.pensions-ombudsman.org.uk.
	Complainants who are unhappy with the Pensions Ombudsman's determinations have the option of appealing to the High Court on a point of law. They must do this within 28 days of receiving the determination in England and Wales and 14 days in Scotland. They could also ask for the determination to be judicially reviewed, and must make an application within three months of the determination being issued.
	If complainants are unhappy about the service received from the Pensions Ombudsman, an MP can refer the matter to the Parliamentary Ombudsman. She may review the way that the case was handled but will not consider formal decisions (i.e. determinations) made by the Pensions Ombudsman or his staff.

Jobseeker's Allowance

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the criteria are for assessing the performance of staff of JobCentre Plus in respect of the payment of jobseeker's allowance.

Jane Kennedy: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Jobcentre Plus, David Anderson. He will write to the hon. Member.
	Letter from David Anderson to Mr. Peter Ainsworth, dated 6 December 2004
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question concerning the criteria for assessing the performance of Jobcentre Plus staff in respect of Jobseeker's Allowance. This is something, which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
	Jobcentre Plus performance is assessed against the levels set within the targets agreed annually with the Minister of State for Work. Underpinning these headline targets, we have a series of Key Management Indicators.
	For Jobseekers Allowance (JSA), performance is measured against:
	The percentage of cases processed accurately within a selected sample (profile 94 per cent.):
	The amount of JSA lost due to fraud and error expressed as a percentage of programme spend (to be no more than 6 per cent. of Income Support and JSA combined programme spend)
	The percentage of cases that cannot be regarded as fully checked within the selected sample (no more than 1 per cent. of variance from actual accuracy)
	The average clearance time to process both new claims (12 days) and changes in circumstances (4 days): and
	The speed with which we submit appeals against decisions on JSA to The Appeals Service (90 per cent. in 60 working days)
	I hope this is helpful.

Jobseeker's Allowance

Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what the average time from claiming jobseeker's allowance and income support to receiving payment has been in (a) the area covered by Eston JobCentre Plus and (b) each of the other areas of the Redcar constituency not covered by the Eston JobCentre Plus in the last period for which figures are available;
	(2)  what procedure is followed in processing applications for (a) jobseeker's allowance and (b) income support in the Redcar constituency;
	(3)  how many financial advisers are allocated to (a) Eston Jobcentre Plus and (b) the other areas of Redcar constituency.

Jane Kennedy: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Jobcentre Plus, David Anderson. He will write to the hon. Member.
	Letter from David Anderson to Vera Baird, dated 6 December 2004
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your questions concerning the processing of claims for Jobseeker's Allowance and Income Support in the Redcar constituency, and the number of financial advisers in the Redcar constituency. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
	Information on speed of processing is expressed as the Average Actual Clearance Time (AACT). This measures the time from when a claim to benefit is received until the processing has been completed. If a payment is due it would normally be sent to the customer on the date that processing is completed, so should be received by the customer either one or two days later.
	Locally gathered information is available in different formats for Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) and for Income Support (IS). JSA figures can be broken down on a site by site basis, however IS is processed by one team covering the 9 Jobcentre/Jobcentre Plus service delivery sites in the Stockton, Middlesbrough and Redcar/Cleveland areas, referred to as the Middlesbrough Site. Figures are thus only available on that basis. Figures for Tees Valley (which includes Darlington and Hartlepool) are also available, so are included for information.
	The latest AACT figures held are for October 2004 and are expressed in days, as shown in the tables.
	
		
			  Days 
		
		
			 Jobseeker's allowance  
			 Eston 16.6 
			 Guisborough 12 
			 Redcar 18.9 
			 Loftus 18.8 
			 Income support  
			 Middlesbrough Site 9.9 
			 Tees Valley 10.2 
		
	
	The offices in the Redcar constituency are Eston, Redcar, Loftus and Guisborough. While Eston, Redcar and Loftus are Jobcentre Plus service delivery sites, Guisborough has yet to convert to the new integrated Jobcentre Plus service, so remains a standard Jobcentre, and, as such, processes claims to benefits in a different way.
	Under Jobcentre Plus operations, a claim to JSA or IS usually starts with a telephone call to the Contact Centre. After obtaining initial details, Contact Centre staff call the customer back to obtain the necessary information to complete a claim to benefit. They also arrange an appointment for the customer to attend their local office to see both a Financial Assessor (FA) and a Personal Adviser (PA).
	During this face-to-face interview, the FA obtains the information from the customer that is needed to process the claim to benefit. The FA also initiates requests for other information, which may also be needed to determine the benefit position, for example, details of final payments from an employer. Once all the information has been obtained, the FA produces a document, which is sent by courier to the central processing site where the benefit processing officers make the final determination and process the claim.
	In Guisborough the pre-Jobcentre Plus process is in operation, and customers wanting to claim JSA usually contact a Customer Call Centre in order to make an appointment with a Personal Adviser in their local office. Benefit Processing Officers in the local office take all action to gather information and process some claims. Any they cannot deal with are sent to the central processing site for final determination and processing. Customers wanting to make a claim to IS do so by post and send their claim form directly into the processing site. For IS there is no requirement for an interview with an FA or PA.
	Jobcentre Plus service delivery sites have Financial Assessors and Personal Advisers. The number of Financial Assessors in the offices in the Redcar constituency are in the table.
	
		
			  Number of financial advisers 
		
		
			 Eston 3.5 
			 Redcar 5.18 
			 Loftus 2 
			 Guisborough 2 (Benefit Processing Officers) 
		
	
	I hope this is helpful.

National Insurance

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 29 November 2004, Official Report, columns 43–4W, on contracted-out rebates, what his assumptions are of the number of people who are contracted out in 2004–05; and if he will make a statement.

Malcolm Wicks: The information is in the table:
	
		Million
		
			 Type of Scheme Number of people contracted out in 2004–05 
		
		
			 Contracted-out Salary Related Scheme 7.0 
			 Contracted-out Money Purchase Scheme� 0.6 
			 Contracted-out Mixed Benefit Scheme�  
			 Appropriate Personal Pension Scheme 3.3 
			 Total (39)11.0 
		
	
	(39) Numbers do not sum to total due to rounding to the nearest hundred thousand
	Note:
	1. The estimates are based on the numbers contracted-out in 200001, the latest year for which information is available; they are for Great Britain and are consistent with those used by the Government Actuary to estimate the cost of the rebate for the 2004 pre-Budget report.
	2. The numbers are based on those shown in the departmental publication Second- Tier Pension Provision published in March 2004 but exclude:
	(a) data for Northern Ireland as estimates for the pre-Budget report are based on Great Britain only; and
	(b) people earning below the lower earnings limit.

National Insurance

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether immigrants to the UK are entitled to be issued with national insurance numbers if they (a) have entered the UK on false passports, (b) have had their applications under the regularisation of overstayers scheme refused with no right of appeal and (c) have had their applications under the Home Office's marriage policy refused.

Chris Pond: Possession of a national insurance number (NINO) does not constitute proof of the right to work, and the onus for establishing right to work rests with employers. The 1996 Asylum and Immigration Act prohibits the use of illegal migrant labour and requires employers to carry out certain specified document checks on prospective employees. The NINO is only acceptable as evidence of entitlement to work if produced in combination with other specified documents. Alternatively, job applicants can demonstrate their entitlement to work by producing specified secure documentation, such as the British passport, EEA passports and other foreign passports endorsed to show the holder can work in the UK.
	The allocation of NINOs to adults affects almost exclusively people entering the UK from abroad. People who have entered the UK on false passports; have had their applications under the regularisation of overstayers scheme refused with no right of appeal; and have had their applications under the Home Office's marriage policy refused, but have met the criteria for a NINO to be allocated, would be issued with a NINO.
	We have well established processes in place to notify the Home Office Immigration and Nationality Directorate where it becomes apparent that an individual requesting a NINO has immigration restrictions. This process protects the benefit systems from undue loss when a person's immigration status excludes the right to access public funds and provides the Immigration Service with up to date information on the individual.

Pensions

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will strengthen the powers of the pensions ombudsman to take action against providers of pension schemes when he finds evidence of malpractice or poor service; and if he will make a statement.

Malcolm Wicks: The pensions ombudsman is an independent statutory commissioner. His powers are quite wide ranging. He can investigate complaints of injustice caused by maladministration and disputes of fact or law brought by members of occupational pension schemes, and their spouses and dependants, against trustees, managers or administrators of those schemes or employers. He may direct any person responsible for the management of the scheme to take or refrain from taking such steps as are specified in his determination. His determination is final and binding and is enforceable in a county court as if it was a judgement or order of the court.
	The pensions ombudsman can also investigate complaints of injustice from members of personal pension schemes, who have suffered as a result of maladministration carried out by people responsible for provisions in the scheme's administration.
	The Pensions Act 2004 further strengthens the pensions ombudsman's powers by ensuring that where the management or administration of the scheme is outsourced, those with such responsibility should be subject to the pensions ombudsman's jurisdiction. This provision will come into force shortly.
	This will enable him to deal with complaints or disputes relating to one off acts of administration. An example of this would be an insurance company carrying out a single act, e.g. calculating a transfer value for an insurance policy.

Social Fund

Archy Kirkwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many full-time staff equivalents have worked on the administration of the Social Fund for Edinburgh, Lothians and the Borders district in each of the last five years; what the ratio of staff to relevant potential claimants was in each of the last five years; and what the ratio of staff to claims was in each of the last five years;.
	(2)  how many telephone lines there are at Bathgate to receive calls about Social Fund crisis loans; what the average length of time taken to answer a call is; how many and what percentage of calls were abandoned by the caller in the last period for which figures are available; and how many calls a day on average were received in the last period for which figures are available;.
	(3)  how many complaints have been received about the administration of the Social Fund in Edinburgh, Lothians and the Borders in each of the last five years.
	(4)  whether the telephony system used for the administration of the Social Fund is part of the Customer Management Services IT project; how many (a) errors and (b) change requests have been reported to the supplier of the system; what criticisms have been made to the supplier about the telephony system; what changes have been made to improve the telephony system; whether payments for the telephony system have been withheld; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Pond: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Jobcentre Plus, David Anderson. He will write to the hon. Member.
	Letter from David Anderson to Sir Archy Kirkwood, dated 6 December 2004
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your questions concerning the Social Fund delivery in Edinburgh, Lothian and Borders Jobcentre Plus district. This is something, which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
	It may be helpful if I first explain that Jobcentre Plus Direct uses an advanced call centre telephony system to support the customer services delivered by Jobcentre Plus Direct Contact Centres. These services, which include first customer contact in making claims for working age benefits, do not include the administration of the Social Fund. The administration of the Social Fund is currently delivered from within the district field network, using standard telephony, which is available in almost all Jobcentre Plus local offices. The telephony used to deliver the Social Fund is not part of the Customer Management System IT project.
	I am in a position to provide the statistical information you request only for the periods 200304 and 200405. This is partly because of the district restructuring which occurred in April 2004 and merged the former separate Edinburgh and Lothian and Borders districts and makes earlier data comparison invalid, and also our staff information database which would have confirmed staffing levels only came into operation in April 2003.
	By way of background, Crisis Loan applications by telephone was introduced in Bathgate Jobcentre Plus office on 18 November 2002 and subsequently rolled out to the remainder of the old Lothian and Borders district by August 2004. In what is now the new restructured district, crisis loan applications by telephone have been in operation for approximately one year.
	Turning to your specific questions, firstly, during the operational year 20032004, 59.9 full time equivalent staff were engaged in the administration of Social Fund and this figure has been increased to 61.4 for 2004/05. I regret I am unable to estimate the potential number of Social Fund customers, this is because applications are open to non-Jobcentre Plus customers. However, the actual number of Social Fund Claims received claims received in 200304 was 89278, and this year to date, we have received 52172. I am also pleased to say that additional staff are currently working on Crisis Loans in the District to help deal with this volume of activity. In terms of a staff to claims ratio, I regret that data is not available which would fully reflect all aspects of Social Fund activity, for example appeals or abortive claims. I should like to mention that Crisis Loan productivity in Edinburgh, Lothian and Borders District is the highest in Scotland, and above the Jobcentre Plus national average.
	There are currently 9 telephone lines available within Bathgate Jobcentre Plus office to deal with Crisis Loan applications. The average time taken for the end to end process from the point of call receipt is between 30 to 45 minutes. Unfortunately due to the nature of the telecommunication system in place, I am not able to answer your other call-type questions.
	Finally, during 2003/04, 30 formal complaints were received through our official channels. This number has fallen to 17 complaints this year to date. Unfortunately, at present, I am unable to provide figures for complaints received direct to the district. I will, however, forward this information to you as soon as it is available.
	I hope this is helpful.

State Pensions (Exception Service)

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what arrangements have been made to publicise the existence of an exception service for state pension payments;
	(2)  how a person eligible for a state pension can apply to be included in the exception scheme for its payment;
	(3)  what recent estimate he has made of the number of people who will use the exception service for the payment of their pension; and what estimate he has made of the cost of the service;
	(4)  what arrangements have been made to ensure continuity of payment to pensioners who do not respond to the request to nominate a new method of payment when the pension book is discontinued.

Chris Pond: holding answer 2 December 2004
	The cheque payment was designed in consultation with a range of customer representative groups and detailed information was circulated to them and to all hon. Members in May of this year.
	Existing customers, including pensioners, who are not paid direct into an account, are being contacted to provide details of the account they would like to use to receive their payment. The current order book contract ends early in 2005. Customers who are still being paid by order book will be notified when their last book is issued.
	Cheque payments will automatically be made, to those customers who we are unable to pay into an account. There is no application procedure.
	The precise number of cheques will depend on customer responses. We will not know until the conversion process is completed.

Telephone Response Times

David Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to improve response times to the Department's free telephone number.

Chris Pond: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, David Anderson. He will write to the hon. Member.
	Letter from David Anderson to Mr. David Hamilton, dated 6 December 2004
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question concerning plans to improve response times to the Department's free telephone number. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
	It may be helpful if I first explain that Jobcentre Plus Direct uses an advanced call centre telephony system to support the customer services delivered by Jobcentre Plus direct contact centres. These services, which include first customer contact in making claims for working age benefits, do not include the administration of the Social Fund. The administration of the Social Fund is currently delivered from within the district field network, using standard telephony, which is available in almost all Jobcentre Plus local offices. The telephony used to deliver the Social Fund is not part of the Customer Management System IT project.
	By way of background, Crisis Loan applications by telephone was introduced in Bathgate Jobcentre Plus office on 18 November 2002 and subsequently rolled out to the remainder of the old Lothian and Borders district by August 2004. In what is now the new restructured district, crisis loan applications by telephone have been in operation for approximately one year.
	There are currently 9 telephone lines available within Bathgate Jobcentre Plus office to deal with Crisis Loan applications. The average time taken for the end to end process from the point of call receipt is between 30 to 45 minutes.
	A review of this system is currently in progress which is expected to report by mid January 2005; however as an interim measure the hours of the telephone service have been extended from 9.30am to 4pm to 8.30am to 4.30pm (Monday to Friday).
	BT has also been asked to evaluate the current telephone system and invited to offer suggestions for improvement.
	I hope this is helpful.

TRANSPORT

A303/A358

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will place in the Library a copy of the detailed technical work which assessed the options of improving the A303 or the A358 to the west of Ilminster.

David Jamieson: The detailed technical work is summarised in the report prepared for the South West Regional Assembly by the Highways Agency and published on the Regional Assembly website. A copy of the Report has been placed in the House Library.

A5

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans there are for the detrunking of the A5 through Dunstable once the A5-M1 link/Dunstable and Hongleton Regis northern bypass is built.

David Jamieson: The development of the proposed A5-M1 Link (Dunstable Northern Bypass) is at an early stage and responsibility for the A5 through Dunstable on completion of the bypass has not yet been agreed.

Aircraft Pollution

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the environmental consequences of production by aircraft of nitrogen oxides; and what steps he is taking to limit such emissions.

Charlotte Atkins: Evidence of climate effects from increased ozone concentrations in the atmosphere is well established and emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) from aircraft are an ozone precursor. The Government have supported several research projects aimed at improving the level of scientific understanding of aircraft NOx effects and the sensitivity to where aircraft fly, most recently the collaborative EC TRADE-OFF project. Around airports, aircraft are one of many contributors to NOx concentrations. Nitrogen dioxide (NO2)formed by NOxis a target pollutant in the UK Air Quality Strategy and health-based limit values become mandatory in 2010. The Government presses for technology advances and tighter standards that will reduce aircraft source emissions. A 12 per cent. tightening of the international standard for aircraft emissions of NOx for new aircraft types from 2008 was agreed by the International Civil Aviation Organisation recently. This will be incorporated into UK regulations.

Dartford/Thurrock Crossing (Toll)

Howard Stoate: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  how much income was received by his Department from the toll revenue from the Dartford to Thurrock river crossings in each year since the new Dartford to Thurrock crossing charging scheme came into force;
	(2)  how much funding local transport schemes have received via his Department from the toll revenue from the Dartford to Thurrock river crossings in each year since the new Dartford to Thurrock crossing charging scheme came into force, broken down by scheme;
	(3)  if he will make funding derived from the toll revenue from the Dartford to Thurrock river crossings available to local transport schemes in Kent Thameside on a permanent basis.

David Jamieson: The Dartford-Thurrock Crossing charging scheme came into force on 1 April 2003. Subject to verification by the Comptroller and Auditor General, the outturn for the year ended 31 March 2004 was 69.1 million.
	All income from the charging scheme is taken into account in the funding for the 10 year plan.
	With regard to funding for use on local transport schemes, it is for local authorities to apply for such funding in the normal way through the Local Transport Plan process.

Driving Tests

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many drivers with a provisional licence took a driving test in the last three years for which data is available; and how many failed at the first attempt.

David Jamieson: The information requested is as follows.
	
		Practical car tests
		
			 Financial year Car tests conducted Car tests pass rate 
		
		
			 200102 1,217,479 43 
			 200203 1,348,190 43 
			 200304 1,399,385 43 
			 April 2004 to October 2004 (40)947,076 (40)42 
		
	
	(40) Provisional.
	The Driving Standards Agency (DSA) has not previously collated information on pass rates by attempt. The Agency started collecting this information at the beginning of the current financial year, but the data is not yet sufficiently reliable to be meaningful.

EU Directives

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the European Union directives and regulations relating to his Department that have been implemented in each of the last two years, specifying (a) the title and purpose of each, (b) the cost to public funds of each and (c) the cost to businesses of each.

Tony McNulty: The information is as follows:
	(a) This information is not held centrally and could be assembled only at disproportionate cost.
	(b) Information is not held in the form requested, and could be assembled only at disproportionate cost.
	(c) Departments are required to produce regulatory impact assessments (RIAs) for proposals, including those originating in European legislation, likely to impose costs on business, charities or voluntary organisations. Copies of these are placed in the Library, and on departmental websites.

European Constitution

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the effect of the coming into force of the European Constitution on the operation of his Department, with reference to (a) changes in legislative competence, (b) the extension of qualified majority voting, (c) the increased legislative role of the European Parliament, (d) the cost of implementation of regulations, (e) the requirements of adherence to the Charter of Fundamental Rights and (f) the quantity of legislation originating in the EU institutions.

Tony McNulty: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 29 November 2004, Official Report, columns 1011W, by my hon. Friend the Minister for Europe.

Grantham-Skegness Branch Line

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  if he will make a statement on the economic viability of the Grantham to Skegness branch line;
	(2)  how many passengers have travelled on the Grantham to Skegness branch line in each year since 1995.

Tony McNulty: The Skegness line forms part of a network of rail services operated by Central Trains. Subsidy per passenger kilometre for these services in aggregate is set out in the Strategic Rail Authority's National Rail Trends (copies of which are in the House Library). Information on the number of passengers that have travelled on the Grantham to Skegness line each year since 1995 is not held centrally.

Highways Agency

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will break down the budget of the Highways Agency for 200405 by major category.

David Jamieson: The indicative Capital and Resource budgets of the Highways Agency are identified, in total and by main categories of expenditure, in the Agency's published Business Plan for the year 200405, which is available in the Libraries of the House.

Highways Agency

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the frequency and schedule under the 30 year contract is between the Highways Agency and Highway Services (UK) Limited for contract review.

David Jamieson: The Secretary of State does not have any contract with the company mentioned but the M40 DBFO contract is with UK Highways (M40) Ltd. Performance of the contract is reviewed on an ongoing basis but there are no provisions for formal contract review.

Highways Agency

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what mechanisms there are under the 30 year contract between the Highways Agency and Highway Services (UK) Ltd. for cost recoveries through changes to the per vehicle charge.

David Jamieson: The Secretary of State does not have a contract with the company mentioned but the M40 DBFO contract is with UK Highways (M40) Ltd. The Shadow Tolls payments in the 30-year contract between the Secretary of State and UK Highways (M40) Ltd. are calculated annually and indexed to protect the contractors against inflation using the Retail Price Index as the basic factor.

Highways Agency

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what environmental terms were in the initial 30 year contract between the Highways Agency and Highway Services (UK) Ltd.

David Jamieson: The Secretary of State does not have any contract with the company mentioned but the M40 DBFO contract is with UK Highways (M40) Ltd. The contract required the company to incorporate into the construction work all of the environmental features included in the approved design. The attached extract from the Design, Build, Finance and Operate Contract between the Secretary of State for Transport and UK Highways (M40) Ltd. details further general and specific environmental terms.
	Core Operation and Maintenance Requirements
	In the design, planning and execution of all works and functions associated with the operation and maintenance of the Project Facilities, the DBFO Co shall take all such action and do all such things (including, without limitation, organising itself, adopting measures and standards, executing procedures, including inspection procedures and safety patrols, and engaging and managing contractors, agents and employees) as will and in such manner as will secure . . . risk of adverse effects on the environment and on the amenity enjoyed by the owners and occupiers of land adjacent to the Project Road and to adjoining roads and facilities is minimised.
	Scheme Specific Core Operation and Maintenance Requirements
	The DBFO Co shall cultivate and maintain the landscaped areas of the Project Road so as to enhance the appearance and aesthetic quality of the Project Road and to mitigate its adverse environmental effects.
	The DBFO Co shall operate and maintain the Site and the Operation and Maintenance Adjacent Areas so as to enhance nature conservation.

Highways Agency

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what environmental issues have been negotiated in reviews of the 30 year contract between the Highways Agency and Highway Services (UK) Ltd.

David Jamieson: The Secretary of State does not have any contract with the company mentioned but the M40 DBFO contract is with UK Highways (M40) Ltd. There are no provisions in the Design, Build Finance and Operate Contract between the Secretary of State for Transport and UK Highways (M40) Ltd. for any formal review of environmental issues.

Highways Agency

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how the Highways Agency is able to agree additional works with contractors under the terms of its 30 year contract with Highway Services (UK) Ltd.

David Jamieson: The Department for Transport does not have a contract with the company mentioned but the M40 DBFO contract is with UK Highways (M40) Limited. All the Department's DBFO contracts make provision for Additional Works and other Additional Services. Where the Department through its Highways Agency proposes Additional Works to be carried out it notifies the DBFO Company of such an intention by means of an Additional Works Notice:
	The Additional Works Notice includes a description and/or specification of the Additional Works.
	The specification should include the time by which the proposed Additional Works are to be completed.
	The Additional Works Notice should specify the Additional Works Services (if any), which the Secretary of State requires the DBFO Co. to perform in respect of the Additional Works.
	The Additional Works Notice should also specify the time by which any comments from the DBFO Company on the contents of the Additional Works Notice must be received.

Road Accidents (A303/A30)

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many people have been (a) killed and (b) seriously injured in road accidents on the A303/A30 between Ilminster and Honiton in each of the last seven years.

David Jamieson: The numbers of people killed or seriously injured on this section of the A303/A30 for each of the last seven years are set out as follows:
	
		
			  Number of fatalities Number of seriously injured 
		
		
			 1998 3 5 
			 1999 2 12 
			 2000 2 7 
			 2001 2 8 
			 2002 2 10 
			 2003 0 10 
			 2004 (until end September) 2 0 
			 Total 13 52

Road Furniture

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what quantity of (a) street lights and (b) other road furniture was replaced in the last year for which figures are available; what the cost of such replacement was; and what proportion of the (i) quantity and (ii) cost of such replacement was as a result of collisions on (A) Highways Agency roads and (B) local authority roads.

Charlotte Atkins: Highway maintenance, including the upkeep of street lighting, is the responsibility of local highway authorities in respect of local roads and the Highways Agency in respect of the trunk road network. The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Wheel Loss

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will place in the Library the results of the wheel loss survey completed on 30 April 1997; and what steps have been taken in the light of these results.

David Jamieson: Copies of the report have been placed in the House Library. Although the report was aimed primarily at assessing the size of the problem, it also indicated that a major contributing factor was lack of adequate maintenance and checking of wheel fixings. The then Department for the Environment, Transport and the Regions issued a leaflet, in association with relevant stakeholders such as the Freight Transport Association, giving guidance on appropriate measures to reduce wheel loss. Copies of the leaflet are available in the Library. A further piece of research into the incidence of heavy goods vehicle wheel loss, commissioned by my Department, will report soon, and more work is under consideration for launch next year. In addition, there are a number of initiatives such as the Heavy Vehicle Accident Study in which wheel loss will form one of a variety of issues investigated.

Wheel Loss

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what funding his Department has made available to investigate incidents of wheel loss involving heavy goods vehicles.

David Jamieson: A contribution of 35,000 was made by the Department for Trade and Industry to research carried out in the late 1980s. In 1997 the then Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions prepared a report based upon surveys carried out by the Vehicle Inspectorate and the Association of Chief Police Officers. No figures are available for this work. A new project is currently under way to update the accident statistics of wheel loss from heavy vehicles. This project is part of the present Department for Transport's wide ranging programme of research into vehicle safety which is currently valued at 7.1 million. There is not a specific sum in this budget for investigation of wheel loss incidents.

Roadworks

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which roads are being considered by the Highways Agency for treatment for non-maintenance reasons in (a) 200405, (b) 200506 and (c) 200607.

David Jamieson: It is the Government's intention to bring forward resurfacing of concrete roads ahead of maintenance need, as resources allow, as announced by the Secretary of State on 1 April 2003. The following roads are being resurfaced ahead of maintenance need in 200405:
	A27 ChichesterHavant, Emsworth and Chichester sections.
	In addition the following sections of concrete road are being resurfaced in 200405 for maintenance reasons:
	A1(M) junction 1
	Al 80 HarboroughStallinborough
	M69 junction 2 to Ml junction 21
	Al Carlton to Muskham phase 2.
	It is too early to say which roads might be brought forward for resurfacing ahead of maintenance need in 200506 and 200607. The Highways Agency is currently developing its detailed programme following the spending review settlement.

Rolling Stock Companies

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to his oral answer of 25 November 2004, Official Report, column 252, on the Railways Bill, if he will make a statement on the nature and purpose of the discussions under way with the rolling stock companies.

Tony McNulty: As set out in the 'Future of Rail' White Paper, the Department for Transport is currently considering further whether and how the operation of the rolling stock market can be improved. The White Paper also said that to support this the Department would prepare a rolling stock strategy to help the industry plan more effectively.

Sheerness Port

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will ensure that the Harbourmaster at Sheerness Port restricts the opening of the Kingsferry Bridge to a single lift during rush hours; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: Responsibility for the operation of Kingsferry Bridge is a matter for Network Rail. The Harbour Master has no authority to restrict its opening.

Slam-door Trains

Edward Leigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many of the oldest slam-door trains have received a waiver allowing them to run beyond the statutory deadline of 31 December for removing them from the network; and when they will be replaced by new trains.

Tony McNulty: The exemption issued by the Health and Safety Executive on 22 October does not apply to a specified number of vehicles. It says, instead, that all Mark 1 slam door trains must be removed from passenger service by November 2005. By 13 November 2004, 889 Mark 1 slam door vehicles had been withdrawn from service across the three south-of-the-Thames train operating companies, leaving another 849 available for service and covered by the exemption. We expect them all to have been removed by August 2005.

Speed Cameras

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many speed cameras have been in operation in each year since 1999, broken down by (a) region and (b) class of road.

David Jamieson: Cameras have been in use since the early 1990's. Prior to the start of the Safety Camera Programme in April 2000, there was no requirement for local authorities or Police authorities to report on the number or location of safety cameras. Since the Safety Camera Programme started in 2000, partnerships have been required to provide the information requested and the current Department for Transport database shows the data, copies of which have been placed in the Libraries of the House.

Stations (Crime)

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what criteria stations need to meet to be designated secure stations under the Secure Stations scheme; and how much money has been spent advertising the scheme.

Tony McNulty: The Secure Stations scheme is designed to improve and standardise good security practices at overground and underground stations. The scheme awards Secure Stations status to those stations that have worked with their local British Transport Police Crime Reduction Officer to reach specified standards in crime management, station design, station management, and passenger perceptions. Criteria covered include lighting, maintenance procedures, passenger information, incident reporting, and staff training.
	Approximately 15,000 has been spent on the printing and distribution of the Secure Stations scheme guidance. The scheme is also advertised through various meetings, presentations, magazine articles, seminars and conferences with relevant interested parties. Accredited stations are also able to make their own advertising through local news features and their own publicity materials (eg posters, company magazines).

Stations (Crime)

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many stations with Secure Station status have subsequently had their designation removed in each year since the scheme's inception; and which stations have been designated secure stations under the Secure Station scheme.

Tony McNulty: Stations are awarded Secure Stations status for a two year period once they have met the required accreditation standards on station design, station management, crime management, and passenger perceptions. There is provision for the accreditation to be withdrawn if there is a clear breach of standards during that time. No stations have breached the standards during their accreditation period.
	Accredited stations can apply for reaccreditation after their two year award period has expired. As shown as follows, although a large number of stations have become reaccredited, 59 stations have not sought or achieved reaccreditation and, therefore, their accreditation status has been removed. There were two of these stations during 2000, three during 2001, 18 during 2002, 21 during 2003, and 15 during 2004.
	A total of 225 stations have been accredited under the Secure Stations scheme. Of these 81 are first time accreditations, 85 have been reaccredited and 59 have lapsed. A list of accredited stations has been placed in the Libraries of the House.
	Approximately two thirds of all overground rail journeys and approximately one half of all London Underground journeys involve passengers starting or finishing their journeys at a Secure Station.

Transport Fuels (Renewables Obligation)

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make it his policy to introduce a renewables obligation for transport fuels.

David Jamieson: The Government are considering whether an obligation might be an appropriate mechanism to support the introduction of renewable road fuels into the long term, but no decision has yet been taken. The pre-Budget report announced that we will undertake a feasibility study and consultative process with stakeholders to inform our judgment.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter to him dated 11 October from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Pauline Clear.

David Blunkett: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 2 December. I am sorry for the delay in replying.

Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority

Richard Ottaway: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on manning levels at the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.

Paul Goggins: The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority currently has some 452 staff. 328 of these are employees of the Scottish Executive on special assignment to the Authority in its Glasgow office: 124 are employees of the Home Office on secondment to the Authority in its London office.

Drink-Driving

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will reduce the drink-drive blood alcohol limit to 50mg.

David Jamieson: I have been asked to reply.
	The Government have no plans at present to lower the drink-drive legal limit.
	We feel that it would be more effective to maintain our emphasis on enforcement and education through publicity. This approach, backed by strong penalties which are among the toughest in Europe, has led to a significant reduction in drink-drive fatalities since the 1970s and given this country one of the best overall road safety records in the EU.
	We are taking further steps to deal with drink driving in the new Road Safety Bill.

Fines

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to link the level of a fine to a defendant's income.

Paul Goggins: Fines are currently imposed on the basis of the seriousness of the offence and the offender's ability to pay. The Government have accepted the recommendation made in the Carter Report, Managing Offenders, Reducing Crime, that a day fines system should be introduced. This would offer a more transparent link with ability to pay so that fines should bear more equally on offenders of differing means.

Gateway Zero Reviews

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what advice his Department has received from the Office of Government Commerce on the timing of Gateway Zero reviews.

Paul Goggins: The Office of Government Commerce was fully consulted and the time scale of the Gateway Zero review was agreed with them.

National Offender Management Service

Neil Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what risk assessment has been carried out on co-ordination and integration across the sub-programmes of the National Offender Management Service;
	(2)  what risk assessment has been carried out on the scale and scope of the change programme of the National Offender Management Service.

Paul Goggins: As part of the setting up of the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), a comprehensive risk management strategy has been established, providing for the assessment, monitoring and managing of risks across the Change Programme. Risk assessments have been carried out at detail and strategic level across the Programme. The results have been agreed with the NOMS Directors and reported to the NOMS Board and to other governance bodies within the Home Office.
	The assessments cover all aspects of the Programme, including policy, implementation, people and process issues. The result of any risk assessment is a risk register, which contains not only the risk, with scores for probability and impact, but importantly the counter measures which have been identified to mitigate the risks. The registers are continually updated as the Programme evolves and the risks change.

National Offender Management Service

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what training staff will receive in respect of the National Offender Monitoring Information Project.

Paul Goggins: The National Offender Management Information System (NOMIS) Project formally started on 1 June 2004. The first phase is a 12 month detailed design and pilot which covers the business changes necessary to implement new IT support facilities for the prisons and probation services. This will enable them to meet the new sentencing provisions under the Criminal Justice Act 2003. Targeted training is a vital component of the programme and a training strategy and plan for all potential users of NOMIS will be one of the key outputs of this phase.

National Offender Management Service

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the National Offender Management Service business case will be published.

Paul Goggins: The National Offender Manager Service detailed business case is currently being prepared. In keeping with normal practice across the Government it is not intended to publish the results.

National Offender Management Service

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether a business case existed prior to the announcement of the National Offender Management Service in January.

Paul Goggins: The case for establishment of the National Offender Management Service was outlined in Patrick Carter's independent report Managing Offenders-Reducing Crime.

National Offender Management Service

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department who was consulted and what advice his Department has received on the preparation of the business case for the National Offender Management Service.

Paul Goggins: The National Offender Management Service business case is being prepared according to the Home Office standards and the experience gained from preparing business cases for other Change Programmes.

National Offender Management Service

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the terms of reference are for the National Offender Management Information Project.

Paul Goggins: The terms of reference for the National Offender Management Information Project are: to design a shared offender database as recommended in the Carter Review Managing Offenders and Reducing Crime; to develop IT functionality in order to meet the specific operational needs of the Prisons and Probation Services; and to support interfaces to other criminal justice organisations such as the police and courts, as part of a more joined up approach to reducing re-offending.

National Offender Management Service

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many civil servants are employed on the National Offender Management Information Project, broken down by grade.

Paul Goggins: From the Prison Service, there are currently 17 civil servants directly engaged on the National Offender Management Information System Project working alongside suppliers. These comprise one senior civil servant (Project Director), one senior manager B (G6 equivalent), two senior manager D (G7 equivalent), four manager E (SEO equivalent), three manager G/F (HEO equivalent), six principal/senior officers (EO equivalent). In addition, there are seven assistant chief officers or senior probation officers engaged either on a full or part-time basis from the probation service.

National Offender Management Service

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the estimated cost of the National Offender Management Information Project is for the (a) current financial year and (b) next three financial years.

Paul Goggins: The cost of the project in 200405 is 7.9 million. This covers expenditure on staff, supplier costs, equipment and licensing charges for the pilot phase. This phase will determine the build, implementation and support costs over the life of the project when the scope and requirements have been confirmed and the technical solution finally agreed.

National Offender Manager

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the National Offender Manager will be assuming responsibility for core National Probation Directorate functions.

Paul Goggins: No decision has yet been made on when the National Offender Manager will assume responsibility for core National Probation Directorate functions.

National Offender Manager

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department to whom the National Offender Manager in the National Offender Management Service will be accountable.

Paul Goggins: The National Offender Manager is accountable to the Chief Executive of the National Offender Management Service.

New Prisons

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  if he will list the sites which are under consideration for the building of new prisons;
	(2)  if he will publish the site evaluations of the potential new sites for prison establishments that have been carried out in the past 12 months.

Paul Goggins: The process of identifying suitable sites is still in progress. Details of the sites and evaluations cannot be disclosed for commercial reasons.

Prison Service Resettlement Survey

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the key findings were of the Prison Service's Resettlement Survey 2003; and if he will place a copy of the survey in the Library.

Paul Goggins: holding answer 29 November 2004
	The survey was conducted to measure progress towards the Key Performance Target for increasing the number of prisoners having employment or training arranged on release. The Prison Service Annual Report 2003 states that the number of prisoners in the last two or three weeks of sentence who had employment, training or education (ETE) arranged was 25,906, as measured by the 2003 resettlement survey.
	In addition, the report states that there were an additional number of cases counted toward the target of 28,200 which comprised:
	7,086 from Jobcentre Plus data (14,173 prisoners attended a FRESHSTART interview at their local Jobcentre on release, scoring half a point each towards the target to build in incentives to this joint initiative).
	Publications are placed in the Library as a matter of course. The detailed results of the 2003 resettlement survey are due for publication this financial year.

Prison Suicides

Rudi Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many reports on suicides in prison have been completed by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman in the last 12 months; and when each was published.

Paul Goggins: Investigation of all deaths in custody (whether apparently self-inflicted or otherwise) became the responsibility of the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman on 1 April 2004. Since that date, investigations have begun into 163 deaths in prisons, immigration detention and probation approved premises. This includes 59 apparently self-inflicted deaths in prison. Three reports into apparently self-inflicted deaths in prisons have been through all their stages and submitted to the respective Coroner. Nine reports into other deaths have also been completed and a further 10 are drafts upon which the relevant service is commenting in line with the Ombudsman's reporting procedure. To avoid prejudice, it is not anticipated that reports will be published until after the inquests are heard.
	During 200304, the Ombudsman was commissioned to investigate three prison deaths, two of which were apparently self-inflicted. Those reports have also not been published as the inquests have yet to be held.

Prisoners (Sexual Abuse)

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the percentage of the prison population who were victims of sexual abuse.

Paul Goggins: It is estimated that 10 per cent. of male prisoners and a third of female prisoners report having suffered sexual abuse at some time in their lives. This is based on figures from Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons' (HMCIP) thematic reviews and an Office for National Statistics' study of psychiatric morbidity among prisoners (Singleton et al, 1999). In an HMICP thematic Inspection of Young People in Custody in October 1997, 17 per cent. of the young people interviewed admitted having suffered abuse of a violent, sexual or emotional nature.
	Many factors prevent the disclosure of sexual abuse and it is the least reported of all forms of abuse. Disclosure of sexual abuse is recorded on individual records but not routinely collected. Data is recorded and analysed on the history of all forms of abuse through the Offender Assessment System.

Prisoners (Sexual Abuse)

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps are being taken to provide victim support-based treatment for prison inmates who were victims of sexual abuse prior to incarceration.

Paul Goggins: The steps taken to provide support-based treatment for prisoners who were sexually abused prior to imprisonment vary between prison establishments, reflecting local circumstances. Prison psychologists, for example, may be able to offer one-to-one help in some cases although any sort of psychological or therapeutic work done with victims of sexual abuse is a long process. Help may have to be limited to information and advice, or referring victims to appropriate agencies in their local communities on release. Some prison programmes, such as anger management, may address the impact of abuse indirectly. Prisoners who have a history of sexual abuse are at a greater risk of suicide or self-harm and guidance to staff on managing prisoners who self-harm has been circulated to establishments.
	The Women's Team at Prison Service Headquarters is currently working with a small group of local practitioners (including prison staff and voluntary agencies) to develop Good Practice Principles so that they can achieve consistency in the standard of support offered to women prisoners who report they have suffered abuse. This work will be completed by late 2005 and will draw on a published literature review by Carol-Ann Hooper (2003), University of York on Abuse, Interventions and Women in Prison.

Probation Hostels

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many hostels run by (a) the probation service and (b) the voluntary sector are available in England and Wales, broken down by number of places.

Paul Goggins: The number of approved premises (hostels) run by the National Probation Service (NPS) is currently 88, and by the voluntary sector 12. Total number of beds (approximate as it can vary) is 1,977 for NPS and 261 for the voluntary sector.

Probation Service

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reason the Probation Service Pay and Reward Review was not implemented in April.

Paul Goggins: The Pay and Reward Review for staff in the National Probation Service (NPS) could not be implemented in April 2004 because at that date no agreement had been reached with the trade unions. Negotiations are continuing between the employers' side of the NPS National Negotiating Council (NNC) and the trade union side about the introduction of affordable new pay and grading arrangements for the service. The discussions cover wide-ranging and complex issues and have been necessarily prolonged.

Sex Offenders

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many sex offenders are in sex offender treatment programmes in (a) overcrowded prisons and (b) non-overcrowded prisons.

Paul Goggins: The table sets out the 200405 completion targets for the Sex Offender Treatment programme (SOTP) for those prisons defined as overcrowded and uncrowded as at 31 October 2004.
	
		
			  Overcrowded Uncrowded 
		
		
			 Number of prisons delivering SOTP 17 8 
			 Total number of expected completions 200405 800 380 
		
	
	Information is not recorded on how many of those prisoners undergoing sex offender treatment are currently occupying cells designated as overcrowded.

Sex Offenders

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research he has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on (i) inmate and (ii) prison staff perceptions of sex offenders and the influence of such perceptions on sex offenders' participation and completion of Sex Offender Treatment Programme.

Paul Goggins: The Prison Service has undertaken research into the reasons why offenders choose not to participate in the Sex Offender Treatment Programme in prison. As part of this work, the perceptions of both staff and prisoners and their influence on participation in the programme were considered. The Prison Service is implementing a strategy to address the issues identified by the research, with the aim of reducing the numbers refusing treatment.

Young Offenders

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of young offenders were (a) illiterate and (b) innumerate (i) at assessment on entry to young offenders institutions, (ii) 25 per cent. of the way through their custodial sentence, (iii) 50 per cent. of the way through their custodial sentence, (iv) 75 per cent. of the way through their custodial sentence and (v) on completion of their custodial sentence in the latest year for which statistics are available.

Paul Goggins: holding answer 29 November 2004
	For the period April 2002 to March 2003 the results of the basic skills assessment screening tests at male young offender establishments were as follows:
	
		200203: Young offender establishments
		
			   Percentage 
			  Number tested Below level 1 At level 1 Above level 1 
		
		
			 Spelling 14,742 47.9 38.8 13.3 
			 Punctuation 14,233 60.2 31.1 8.7 
			 Reading 17,721 38.7 28.5 32.8 
			 Numeracy 18,442 46.4 31.7 21.9 
		
	
	Information regarding progression relative to the proportion of sentence served is not available; however, the number of achievements gained by juvenile and young offenders for the same period is as follows:
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 Entry Level 2,227 
			 Level 1 2,673 
			 Level 2 1,326 
			 Total 6,226 
		
	
	For the period April 2004 to August 2004 information on the basic skills level at induction is available for juveniles only and is as follows:
	
		April to August 2004 -- Percentage
		
			  Juvenile only 
			  Pre-Entry Entry 1 Entry 2 Entry 3 Level 1 Level 1 + 
		
		
			 Female   
			 Literacy 1 9 14 34 31 11 
			 Numeracy 13 2 29 37 18 2 
			 Male   
			 Literacy 5 5 20 39 24 8 
			 Numeracy 4 6 26 41 19 2

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

British Citizens Killed Abroad

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what financial assistance his Department provides to families of British citizens killed abroad to assist with (a) legal and (b) other costs.

Chris Mullin: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) does not usually provide financial assistance for legal costs or other expenses incurred by the families of British nationals killed abroad.
	As part of our assistance to victims of terrorism, we can in certain circumstanceseg if the victim's employer, insurance company or others cannot do sooffer practical support to victims of terrorism and their families.
	Where a legal case overseas raises issues of human rights or due process, the FCO will consider referring the case to a member of the UK based FCO Pro Bono Lawyers Panel. In such cases, an appointed Panel member would be expected to work alongside a lawyer retained and instructed locally by the family.

Cyprus

Roger Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to warn UK nationals of possible legal challenges to purchases of properties in the northern part of the island of Cyprus; and what his Department's policy is on (a) the ownership of properties constructed on illegally occupied land in the northern part of the island of Cyprus and (b) compensation to be paid in respect of such properties.

Denis MacShane: The Cyprus travel advice on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) website: www.fco.gov.uk has very clear language on purchasing property in the north of Cyprus. We strongly advise anyone considering buying property to seek independent qualified legal advice. We also draw attention to the political situation in Cyprus. The same advice is given to those who telephone the FCO or the British High Commission.
	The UN Secretary General's comprehensive settlement plan contained provisions for the return of property and compensation in respect of properties. We continue to believe that the best way of resolving these property issues is as part of a comprehensive, just and lasting settlement on the basis of the UN Secretary General's plan.

Cyprus

Roger Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will (a) obtain from the British High Commission in Nicosia and (b) place in the Library the names and addresses of British companies engaged in the construction or marketing of properties in the occupied territory of Northern Cyprus.

Denis MacShane: The British High Commission in Nicosia does not hold records of UK companies active in Cyprus. In line with our consular policy worldwide, we encourage all British citizens living overseas to register with their local Embassy, Consulate or High Commission. But this register does not include details of business activities.

Cyprus

Roger Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if his Department will take steps to ensure that UK companies are not engaged in the construction or marketing of properties on land in the northern part of Cyprus legally owned by Greek Cypriots and mis-appropriated.

Denis MacShane: We strongly advise all those considering purchasing property in northern Cyprus to seek independent qualified legal advice before making any purchasethis is clearly stated in the Cyprus travel advice on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website: www.fco.gov.uk. This advice applies equally to individuals and to UK companies. However, the UK Government is not in a position to intervene with or prevent UK companies from making commercial transactions with individuals or companies in northern Cyprus.

Departmental Mobile Phones

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many departmental mobile telephones were used by (a) Ministers, (b) special advisers and (c) officials in his Department in each year since 1997; at what cost; how many such telephones were lost or stolen in each year since 1997; and what the replacement costs were in each case.

Bill Rammell: There are currently a total of 65 mobile phones in use by Ministers, Special Advisers and civil servants in ministerial offices. Records held are cumulative and reflect live numbers only, and they do not contain a summary of costs per mobile phone used. Information on charges could, therefore, be provided only at disproportionate cost. Details of old phones disconnected or replaced are not kept and it is not therefore possible to provide a breakdown for previous years.
	The cost for mobile phone services, in UK, up until 2003 was based on line rental with new or replacement handsets provided to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office free of charge. While suppliers are now charging for handsets, there are no records held centrally detailing those that were lost or stolen, and the resultant cost to replace them.

Drugs (Central Asia)

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much the Government have contributed to the Central Asian Drugs Action Plan in each of the last three years; and what benefits to the UK have resulted.

Bill Rammell: In addition to assistance to Afghanistan and contributions to the European Commission's assistance programmes in the region, the UK has spent approximately 1 million on counter narcotics activities in Central Asia since 2002. We have plans to increase the level of support and assistance provided. Increasing counter narcotics capacity on the borders of Afghanistan helps reduce the incentive to cultivate opiates in Afghanistan and improves the effectiveness of law enforcement activity aimed at reducing the flow of opiates to Europe and the UK.

Equatorial Guinea

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  what discussions (a) he and (b) officials from his Department have had with their French counterparts concerning external threats to Equatorial Guinea since January 2003;
	(2)  what discussions (a) he and (b) officials from his Department have had with (i) Spanish and (ii) Nigerian counterparts concerning external threats to Equatorial Guinea since January 2003.

Jack Straw: We do not comment on confidential diplomatic exchanges under exemptions l(b) and l(c) of Part 2 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

Equatorial Guinea

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether (a) the security services and (b) a UK police force is conducting an investigation into the Equatorial Guinea attempted coup.

Jack Straw: It is the policy of successive Governments not to comment on the activities of the security services. The security and intelligence agencies are outside the scope of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information (Part 1, paragraph 6). The Equatorial Guinean authorities have passed documents relating to the alleged coup attempt in March 2004 to the Metropolitan Police, who are assessing the material.

Equatorial Guinea

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when (a) he and (b) his officials received information from US (i) counterparts and (ii) security agencies concerning attempted coups in Equatorial Guinea during the last 18 months.

Jack Straw: I refer the right hon. Gentleman to my written statement of 1 December 2004, Official Report, columns 3739WS. Under exemption 1 (c) of Part 2 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information, I am not prepared to comment on the detail of confidential exchanges between governments.

Equatorial Guinea

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on what dates within the last 18 months (a) his Department and (b) the security services received information, including electronic information, concerning attempted coups in Equatorial Guinea.

Jack Straw: I refer the right hon. Gentleman to my written statement of 1 December 2004, Official Report, columns 3739WS.

External Trade Commissioner

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make it his policy to press for a review of the European Commissioner for External Trade's mandate with a view to increasing democratic accountability.

Denis MacShane: There are no plans to press for a review of the EU Trade Commissioner's mandate. There is already significant democratic accountability. In trade negotiations, the Commissioner works within the terms of a mandate set by member states and reports to the Council of Ministers on a regular basis.
	At his hearing before the European Parliament on 4 November, Mr. Mandelson, the Trade Commissioner designate, stated that he would continue the practice established by his predecessor. Pascal Lamy, of going beyond his legal obligations when informing the European Parliament on trade issues. We welcome that as we do the recent establishment of a European Parliamentary Committee on International Trade.
	As with the other Commissioners, democratically elected Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) questioned Mr. Mandleson before voting to approve the new Commission as a whole. The European Parliament voted with a large majority to approve the new European Commission on 18 November.
	In addition, throughout the Commission's term of office, it is subject to the scrutiny of the European Parliament, which examines reports sent to it by the Commission. Moreover. Commissioners are obliged to answer written and oral questions tabled by MEPs.

Falluja

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether (a) embedded and (b) independent journalists were permitted access by the interim Iraqi Government to the Fallujah general hospital from 7 November following its capture by the Iraqi security forces.

Bill Rammell: We are unaware of any restrictions placed on journalists entering Fallujah general hospital from 7 November.

Guantanamo Bay

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which (a) British nationals and (b) former British residents are detained by the US Administration in Guantanamo Bay; where each was first taken into custody by US forces; how long each has been detained; what steps have been taken to obtain visitation rights for detainees' families; and how many letters each has been allowed to send in the last 12 months.

Chris Mullin: There are four British nationals detained by the US at Guantanamo Bay, Feroz Abbasi, Moazzam Begg, Richard Belmar and Martin Mubanga. We are aware of five former British residents also in detention there but the Government is not in a position to provide consular or diplomatic assistance to them and I therefore cannot comment on their situation.
	The four British detainees in Guantanamo Bay and their places and length of detention are:
	Feroz Abbasi: Detained in Afghanistan. Transferred to Guantanamo Bay in January 2002.
	Moazzam Begg: Detained in Pakistan. Transferred to Guantanamo Bay in February 2003.
	Richard Belmar: Detained in Pakistan. Transferred to Guantanamo Bay in October 2002.
	Martin Mubanga: Detained in Zambia. Transferred to Guantanamo Bay in April 2002.
	We know from our frequent contact with the US authorities on the situation of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay that family visits are not permitted to those detainees not currently proceeding through the Military Commissions process. We have, however, made a request for Azmat Begg (Moazzam Begg's father), Dr. James MacKeith and Lord Rea to visit Moazzam Begg for the purpose of carrying out an independent psychiatric assessment. We await the US response.
	We do not know how many letters each British detainee has written in the last 12 months. However, we are unaware of any limits on the number of letters detainees are permitted to write.

Hamas

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the Answer of 1 December 2004, Official Report, columns 17475W, on Hamas, if he will list the Governments and other parties on the ground which conveyed soundings and impressions between the EU High Representative and Hamas stating in each case whether they acted at the specific request of (a) the High Representative and (b) his officials; and under what authority these requests were made.

Bill Rammell: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Iran

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether during recent discussions with the Government of Iran on its compliance with obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Iranian Government representatives raised the United Kingdom's obligations under Article 6 of the Treaty.

Denis MacShane: No.

Iraq

Glenda Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will request that the Iraqi Ministry of Health furnish him with the (a) name, (b) location and (c) type of hospitals referred to in the paragraph Casualty Estimates in his written Ministerial Statement of 17 November, on Iraq: Casualty Estimates.

Bill Rammell: We have requested this information from the Iraqi Ministry of Health. However it will take time for the information to be obtained, translated and compiled. Once compiled I will write to my hon. Friend and place a copy of the list in the Library of the House.

Iraq

Glenda Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will request that the Iraqi Ministry of Health furnish him with a breakdown of the number of civilians killed and injured, as referred to in his Written Ministerial Statement of 17 November, on Iraq: Casualty Estimates, by (a) age, (b) gender, (c) type of injury and (d) cause of death.

Bill Rammell: The Iraqi Ministry of Health statistics on casualties do not include details of age. We have asked the Ministry of Health for a breakdown of their casualty statistics by child/adult categories as well as by gender. I will provide my hon. Friend with this compiled information and will place a copy in the Library of the House, if and when it is made available by the Ministry of Health. I understand that the Ministry of Health does not hold any further information centrally about types of injury or the precise cause of death (i.e. other than by military or terrorist action).

Iraq

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what percentage of the Iraqi population are classified as Christians; and how many Christian organisations from outside Iraq are working within Iraq.

Bill Rammell: Estimates of the number of Iraqi Christians vary. The commonly held view is that they make up around 3 per cent. of the Iraqi population. However, an accurate estimate will have to await a new Iraqi census. As far as we are aware, a small number of international organisations with a Christian affiliation have been involved in humanitarian work and promoting inter-faith dialogue in Iraq. There are also some long-standing links between Christian communities in Iraq and those in other countries.

Iraq

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the treatment of Christians in Iraq; and what steps the Iraqi authorities are taking to ensure their safety.

Bill Rammell: I refer my honourable Friend to the reply I gave to my honourable Friend, the Member for Pendle (Mr. Gordon Prentice) on 17 November 2004 (Official Report, column 1552W).

Parliamentary Questions

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many written questions for his Department were unanswered when Parliament Prorogued; and how many of the unanswered questions were tabled in each of the previous months of the 200304 Session.

Jack Straw: Seven. Of the seven, two were tabled in October 2004. Five were tabled in November 2004.

Thailand

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the establishment of staff at the British Embassy in Thailand is; how many posts are filled; and how many staff are involved in assisting British tourists needing assistance in Thailand.

Douglas Alexander: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office currently has 27 UK based and 108 locally engaged staff at our Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand. The section primarily responsible for providing assistance to British nationals comprises one UK based officer and three local staff, one of whom is part-time. The section is supervised by the Consul. The Ambassador and Deputy Head of Mission also spend some of their time on consular policy matters.

Thailand

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions British Embassy staff in Thailand have had with the (a) Prime Minister, (b) Foreign Minister, (c) Chief Prosecutor and (d) Chief of Police of Thailand in relation to the killing of Vanessa Arscott of Ashburton.

Chris Mullin: My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister raised the killings of Vanessa Arscott and Adam Lloyd with the Thai Prime Minister on 7 October. My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Defence (Lord Bach) raised the case with the Thai Foreign Minister on 1 October and our Ambassador to Thailand also raised it with him on 11 November. Our Ambassador also raised the case with the Thai Police Commissioner on 16 November. Our Consul sought clarification on a number of issues associated with the case with the Chief Prosecutor on 25 November. Embassy staff have also had numerous discussions regarding the case with a wide range of police officers and officials in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Interior and Attorney General's Office.

Thailand

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will appoint a specific member of staff in the British Embassy in Thailand to deal with the Vanessa Arscott case.

Chris Mullin: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to him today by my hon. Friend the Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Douglas Alexander) (UIN 201742). Our Embassy in Bangkok has a team of UK and locally engaged staff working on this and other consular cases. Our Consul, reporting to the Ambassador and Deputy Head of Mission, is responsible for the specific deployment of their staff.

Ukraine

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the impact of the Ukrainian election result on the wider region.

Denis MacShane: The Governments and peoples of Ukraine's neighbours will undoubtedly be watching the Ukrainian election closely. However, while events are still evolving, and in the absence of an agreed outcome, it is too early to make an overall assessment of the implications.

Ukraine

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the legitimacy of the Ukrainian election result.

Denis MacShane: I refer the hon. Member to the statement made to the House on 29 November 2004, Official Report, column 359 by my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary

Ukraine

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions have taken place between the Government, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the EU regarding the Ukrainian election result.

Denis MacShane: On 22 November, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation for Europe's (OSCE) International Election Observation Mission to Ukraine issued its preliminary findings and conclusions on the Ukrainian Election result. The UK with EU partners continues to discuss the election result, and the OSCE's future role in Ukraine, within the OSCE. The UK expects further discussion on Ukraine at the OSCE Ministerial Council on 6 and 7 December in Sofia.

Zimbabwe (UN Resolution)

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress is being made with the United Kingdom sponsored resolution on Zimbabwe in the United Nations; and in which institution of the United Nations it is being tabled.

Jack Straw: holding answer 2 December 2004
	Prompted by the UK, the EU tabled a resolution on Zimbabwe at the General Assembly's Third Committee, which covers human rights. It fell on 24 November to a no action motion tabled by the African Group. Following the result of the vote my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Bill Rammell) and our international partners, the EU, USA and Australia, issued statements condemning this block on a proper UN debate on the serious human rights situation in Zimbabwe.